Second Chances
by Crimson Eyed Sakura
Summary: In the last moments before his death at Lucifer's hands, Gabriel prays for the first time since he left home. He never expected for God to answer. Now, armed with a second chance and a blessing, Gabriel's on a mission to save his favorite Winchester. Oh, and the world. Contains pagan sacrifice and insinuations of child abuse. But only for like half a second.
1. Chapter 1

**Because apparently the fact that Gabriel is alive, canon divergence, and a few added OCs (and, you know, _Sabriel)_ weren't enough of a clue for one rude reader, I figured I would go ahead and state, explicitly, that yes, this is an AU fic. I honestly thought those things would speak for themselves. **

**If you don't like AUs, OCs, or talk of possible future Sabriel children, I would appreciate it if you simply exited out of this fic instead of leaving rude reviews. Thank you.**

* * *

Gabriel the Archangel was many things. Self-sacrificing wasn't really one of them. He was hedonistic, narcissistic, and became easily bored. Anything he did to help others had the end benefit of helping himself.

Until the Winchesters. The two bumbling brats had to come and messed up his fun. But that was okay. He got his payback and then some a few months later. All in the name of helping Sam, of course. The point of the endless Tuesdays was to get Sam to cope with the inevitable loss of his brother. It had _nothing_ to do with the fact that he got to play out his every fantasy of killing the elder Winchester.

But somewhere along the way, he began to care. Enough so that, in the end, he sacrificed himself for them. Oh, he made out to Lucifer that it was for humanity in general, but really it was for them. More specifically, for Sam. As Gabriel felt his Grace condensing around his own blade, preparing for an archangelic supernova, he did something he hadn't done in thousands of years.

He prayed.

"_Father...Dad... I know I've seriously screwed things up for most of my life. I mean...remember the platypus? But I'm trying to do the right thing now. I finally understand, Dad. They _are_ better than us. Luci's right; they're flawed, broken. But they have such a capacity for love, and understanding, and all the things that angels know but never truly feel._

_I know I'm about to die, Dad. And I know that I don't deserve a second chance like Cassie, but could you...could you tell them to keep fighting? Don't let this be the end for them, too._

_And Daddy...let Sammy know... Well, you know."_

Gabriel felt the blade twist in his heart and screamed as his Grace exploded. He felt his former vessel collapsing, felt Lucifer start to cradle his fall before stepping away. The smell of burnt feathers was the last thing he knew.

**#########**

Warmth.

Comfort.

_Love._

Gabriel's eyes fluttered open. He expected to be in Heaven, stuck there as a dead soul. Never in his wildest imaginings did he imagine that Heaven would look like a rather rundown house. He tilted his head as he felt what could only be his father's presence. But that couldn't be. Nobody could find God. Not when he didn't want to be found, anyway.

Gabriel jumped when a voice cut through the silence. "You're right. But you didn't find me, Gabriel. I found you."

Wide eyes turned to the right to see Chuck Shurley lounging in a chair a foot away. "But...Chuck?"

Raising a brow, Chuck - or rather, the being using Chuck's form - laughed. "Doubting again, Gabriel? That's what got you in trouble to begin with."

Wincing at the jab, Gabriel still felt the need to correct it. "It wasn't doubt. It was the desire to stay out of the fighting. And even that didn't work."

Chuck nodded. "No, it didn't." Sighing, the man leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "What if I gave you a second chance? Would you make the same decisions? Or would you step up sooner?"

Pushing himself up – painfully – on one arm, Gabriel gaped at his father. "Seriously? You'd bring me back?"

"I already brought you back, son. Now I just have to decide where to put you. Or rather, _when_ to put you."

"2007."

"Oh? And why then?"

Gabriel didn't look at Chu- er...God. "It's when I first met the Winchesters. Before anything of the Apocalypse started."

"I wouldn't say that, but close enough."

"What do you mean? This all began when Sam died and Dean sold his soul, right? That led to the first seal being broken on Lucifer's cage."

"This Apocalypse has been centuries in the making, Gabriel. People and events manipulated to bring us to this outcome. But, Dean going to Hell was the catalyst. So, I will give you that."

Gabriel sighed. Of course it would be utterly complicated. Shaking his head, he turned back to his father. "I'll stick with 2007. I can keep an eye on the boys, make sure Sammy doesn't die and Dean never goes to Hell."

Chuck shook his head. "Dean has to go to Hell. It's part of his Destiny. With a capital D. He's destined to meet Castiel, and it has to be in Hell."

The archangel snorted. "You mean that whole "profound bond" thing Cassie goes on about is actually legit?"

With a knowing look, Chuck smiled. "He's not the only one destined for such a bond with a Winchester."

Groaning, Gabe collapsed back onto the bed and covered his face with his hands. "I, uh...take it you actually heard that part?"

Laughing, the other man nodded. "It's not something to be ashamed of, my son. I saw this coming the day you were created. Not the details, of course, but enough that this was far from a surprise. Now, back to our discussion. If I send you to 2007, it'll be to that same Gabriel. I'll merge you with the past you, so that you will still have the memories you'll need to stop this."

Gabriel nodded slowly. "I'll be reliving everything from that point on. What happens if I fail?"

"Let's just say that Sam won't be the only one with Mystery Spot memories." With a wink, Chuck was gone.

Between one blink and the next, so was Gabriel. Looking around, he recognized the apartment he had stayed in a few blocks from Crawford Hall. Checking the date, he sighed. Two weeks before he found his first victim on campus. A month before he met the Winchesters. Time to start keeping tabs on the hunters. With a snap, he was gone.

The motel room he appeared in – invisibly, of course – was just as dingy as the ones he had seen the brothers in before. After a few seconds, he finally caught Sam's words.

"I really wanted to believe there was a higher power. Something out there looking out for us."

As Gabriel listened to Sam's words, his heart began to ache. This was harder than he thought it would be. Part of him wanted to scream out to Sam – _"I'm here! I _am_ watching over you!" _But that would lead to too many questions. Questions that Gabriel couldn't answer just yet.

Still, the archangel couldn't help but lay an invisible hand on Sam's shoulder, sending a tiny amount of healing grace into him. Not enough to become apparent immediately, but enough to help him bounce back after this. He didn't stick around long after that. It was too tempting to reveal himself.

When they finally did meet, it was worth it. To see Sam's smile again, hear his deep chuckle – Gabriel couldn't help but smile back.

Maybe that was why he sought the hunter out, even as he knew deep down that it was probably a bad idea. While his doppelganger was getting settled in the auditorium, the real deal calmly walked toward the shining soul he had come to admire. Sam fought so hard against the darkness inside him, even when everything around him pushed him toward it.

Finding the kid wasn't that hard, even without looking for his soul. Of course he would be in the library. Always surrounding himself with books and knowledge. It was cute.

As he plopped himself into a chair across the table from Sam, he waved a hand and willed a sucker into his hand. It took a few seconds for the tall man to notice him. When he finally did, it was rather amusing to see Sam's eyes widen in shock as he tried to bolt from his chair.

A little bit of Trickster magic kept him stuck there as Gabriel quirked an eyebrow. "So quick to leave, Sammy?"

"Where's Dean?" he asked of his brother. He practically snarled the question.

"Whoa, kiddo. He's a little...preoccupied. And besides, we're not really in the same time as he is anymore."

"Wait...what?" Ever eloquent, Sam.

The Trickster came out full force – which was a lot easier for Gabriel than he figured it would be after so long. "I made us a little pocket dimension, right here in the library. Only a few seconds will pass out there. Right this moment, Dean is admiring the craftsmanship of the two very beautiful ladies I'm hoping to tempt him with."

And Sam had to go and do the puppy face – complete with head tilt – that he always pulled when he was confused. At least, that's what Gabriel blamed his next actions on. In the blink of an eye, he was sitting on the table in front of Sam, looking down at the young hunter as he placed his hands on those broad shoulders. His feet nudged Sam's legs together so they could rest on the edges of his chair.

And all the while, Sam stared up at him with confusion. When Gabriel leaned down to rest his forehead against Sam's, the hunter made a surprised noise in the back of his throat. But he still wasn't pushing the shorter man away. That gave the angel in disguise the burst of confidence needed to tilt his head just enough to brush his lips against Sam's. When he didn't immediately move away, Gabriel pressed closer. Sam wasn't kissing him back, but he wasn't freaking out, either. Suddenly, strong arms came around the shorter man, pulling him down onto Sam's lap as the hunter finally reacted to the kiss. One arm banded around Gabriel's back while the other slid up to the back of his head.

When Gabriel rolled his hips into Sam's, the hunter's head fell backwards as he groaned. His neck was free game, and Gabriel took advantage of it. Lips and tongue and a bit of teeth made their way down one side of Sam's neck and up the other. But when Gabriel bit lightly at Sam's earlobe, the Winchester jolted. It seemed to bring him back to his senses.

The next second had Gabriel back on the table with Sam standing a few feet away. The hunter ran a hand through his hair before straightening his clothes. He blushed as he realized his pants were a little tight in the crotch. The angel watched as Sam gathered his things without looking at him, then hurried away as fast as his long legs could take him.

"Well. That could have gone better."


	2. Chapter 2

After the hunting trio "killed" the Trickster, Gabriel occupied himself by splitting time between watching over the Winchesters and keeping a low profile, following as closely to the previous timeline as he could. The were-woman came close to smiting-by-archangel, but the chance to see that much of Sam...well...he couldn't really complain too much.

But really, seeing how much Sam took to heart having to kill Madeline...it was hard. But it reaffirmed Gabriel's faith in the kid. If he were anything like the kids that Azazel had warped, he wouldn't have thought twice about ganking the girl. As it was, he probably thought too much about it. Night after night, Gabriel had been called to Sam's bedside by whimpered half-prayers to _stop it, please make it go away. _So he did. Little by little, he helped the memory become less painful.

Not that Sam ever realized it. He thought he was just dealing with the pain. Oh well. It wouldn't hurt him to think he was doing this all by himself. As long as Gabriel was able, he would be around to protect Sam and, by extension, Dean.

Which was how the archangel found himself impersonating a prisoner when the boys went to jail. Thankfully, he didn't have to interfere. He did, however, spin a little poetic justice for the worst of the criminals he met there. Now _that_ was fun.

The djinn, not so much. He had felt Sam's panic when he couldn't get through to Dean. Showing up in all his invisible glory, he gently pushed Dean's location into Sam's head. And he _may_ have had a hand in keeping the local lawmen busy enough to not look for the two fugitives. And Dean may or may not have had a little bit of help with the last strand of that rope.

After that _delightful_ episode, Gabriel decided to stick closer to the boys. Not that it really helped. One night, Sam went completely off-grid. With a sinking feeling in his gut, Gabriel searched for hours for Sam. When he finally found him, it was too late. Dean was holding his brother's body to him, tears streaming down his face as Bobby stood a few steps away. The urge to simply heal Sam was nearly overwhelming, but Gabriel clenched his fists and reminded himself of his father's words. _Dean has to go to Hell. It's his Destiny._

Didn't make it any easier. Gabriel shadowed the hunters as they drove to an abandoned house a few miles away from the ghost town. He watched as Dean drank himself into a constant state of oblivion, as Bobby finally accepted that Dean didn't want his help and left, and finally, as Dean took a long, hard look at his baby brother's dead body and tore out of the yard, looking to make a deal.

Gabriel turned to Sam's body. It hurt, seeing him like this. As many times as he had killed Dean in the never-ending Tuesdays, it had never occurred to him to physically hurt Sam.

And now, knowing that Dad had basically blessed their union...it was torture not to just bring him back himself. His words ran through Gabriel's head constantly.

Unable to help himself, Gabriel at least let his fingers rest on Sam's forehead. Those fingers trailed up to run through his hair as the archangel felt his resolve weakening. Just as his hand reached for the knife wound, Sam gasped and sat up abruptly, clutching his chest.

Gabriel hurriedly disappeared from view as he berated himself for almost going against God's _direct orders_. Shaking his head, he watched Sam until Dean returned. He drank in the sight of Sam alive and whole once more, and took off before his stupidity almost ruined anything else.

After that, Gabriel decided to use a bit of Trickster magic to keep an eye on the Wonder twins. Apparently, distance was going to be key in not ruining Dad's plans for Dean and Cassie. So Gabriel watched as Ruby came about, clenching his jaw and fists the whole time. For now, while she was actually helping, he could let her slide. Later though, well, he could get to that then.

He watched Dean flounder over the thought that he might have a kid – not that Gabriel blamed him for assuming it; that kid was a replica of the oldest Winchester, down to the leather jacket and taste in music. Apparently Ben's mom had a type.

The rabbit's foot was just hilarious. Gabriel laughed so hard he strained muscles in his side. Until the thief bitch shot Sam. Once again, Gabriel had to go offline for a while to leave the boys to their timeline. When he came back to WinchesterTV, it was to see Sammy rip a vampire's head off with his bare hands and a length of wire.

In a moment of weakness, Gabriel felt arousal curl in his belly. So he had a thing for violence, so what?! You didn't live with pagans for a few thousand years without picking up a few of their quirks along the way. Just so happened to be that this particular pagan archangel loved the caveman thing. And Sammy had that in _spades_ when he really let it out.

Gabriel spent a few days recovering from the low willpower before tuning back into the brothers in time to see them celebrating Christmas. He felt a pang at seeing them kill two pagans, but since the couple had never been very close to him, it was more like seeing an endangered species dying out than close friends being ganked.

After Christmas, things rolled faster. Gabriel hardly even noticed Ruby hanging around the boys, though he was mildly thankful to her for saving them from her former boss.

But one day, Gabriel woke up in a dingy little apartment he had "rented" in the town where Dean was doomed to die, if the timeline stayed intact. He sat up in the bed, feeling the oddest mixture of excitement and dread. Excitement to see Sam again – alive and well this time, but dread at the knowledge that he was going to cause the kiddo such hurt.

But he made it through. Played his part well, even when Sam figured it all out and came after him. Even with the (useless) stake pressed to his neck, Gabriel spoke the lines that came to him, remembered from the first time this had played out. If he dragged out a silence or two just to stay close to the taller man a little longer, well, who was gonna judge him?

The six months spent hiding from the hunters was torture. Seeing Sam break down, actually paying attention to it this time, broke Gabriel's heart. Now he could see that he had gone about things entirely wrong. And taunting him was hard to do. But his words were just the truth. Trying to make Sam _see_. He and Dean were a great team, but everyone knew that to take one out was to hobble the other. They were single-minded in their mission to bring the other back.

Trying to make Sam see that had been the whole point of the time loop. But Gabriel would be the first to say that taking them back to that first Wednesday was going to be a total relief. Even as he felt the hatred radiating from the tall hunter, Gabriel relished his presence for the few moments he had left. Breaking away from the original timeline a bit, the archangel held a hand out to Sam. When the kid just looked at him, hatred bleeding into confusion, Gabriel quirked an eyebrow.

Sam rolled his eyes before taking the shorter man's hand in his own. The jolt of electricity from the contact traveled straight to Sam's groin, pooling there in a burn of inexplicable desire. Before he could begin to pull his hand away or feel self-loathing for being attracted to this creature, everything went black.

The radio was blasting music that was decidedly _not Asia_. Thank God. Dean snarked from the bathroom about sleeping all day, but Sam didn't care. His brother was alive. Now just to keep him that way. He stuck close to Dean's side for the rest of the time in the little town, itching to leave and in a hurry.

But he couldn't help but think about the Trickster's words. Maybe he was right, in a way. What if he and Dean did rely on each other too much? Could it be like with Dad all that time ago, when being together was a liability?

Sam shook his head. Now was not the time to let some random shot of lust cloud his judgment. They only had so much time to save Dean's life and soul. As they drove past a sign thanking them for visiting the Broward County Mystery Spot, Sam sighed and pushed thoughts of that electric jolt from his mind.

But, as Dean's year drew to a close, Sam found himself thinking of the Trickster's words more and more. In turn, he began to think of the man himself more. Of that kiss they had shared in the library at the college, of the sincerity in his voice when he spoke of trying to help Sam, and of that shock he felt when their hands had been clasped for the seconds needed to take him back to the Wednesday Dean had died.

Gabriel heard all of these thoughts, half-formed and quickly banished, only to be revisited minutes later. He wondered if maybe, this time, Sam would actually listen to him and not go off the deep end.

Then again, this was Sam Winchester. The moose who never did what anyone expected of him. Azazel expected him to lead the armies of Hell? Nope. John Winchester expected him to roll over and be a pretty little soldier like he had brainwashed Dean to be? Hell no. Gabriel had expected the tall hunter to be somewhat reasonable the first time around, to appreciate the time and effort the archangel had put into the Mystery Spot? Resounding no.

But the timeline was diverging from the original, and (thankfully) not by Gabriel's hand. Mostly. At least he hadn't seriously messed anything up yet, despite the close calls. Dean was still all set to go to Hell and meet his guardian angel.

For months he listened as closely as he was comfortable with to the younger Winchester's thoughts. Every now and then, he felt a thrill of awareness when the kiddo was thinking of him in particular. And that thrill turned into a shiver of lust when those thoughts turned to long, drawn out dreams that almost made the hedonistic archangel blush.

Almost.

Mostly, it just drove him slowly insane. He was in an almost-constant state of arousal. Finally unable to take anymore frustration, Gabriel delved into one of Sam's more colorful dreams, merging with the dream-him so that he could be in on the fun.

Skipping over the boring stuff where they were mostly just arguing, Gabriel zoned back into the dream when he felt Sam's hands settle on his waist. He looked up at the freakishly tall man and smirked at the lust-blown pupils staring back at him. Without any warning, Sam ducked down and pressed his lips to Gabriel's. It was an angry kiss, more punishing than passionate. Gabriel didn't mind. He liked the caveman thing.

Dream-Sam began to move, backing Gabriel up to the wall a few feet behind them before gripping the shorter man's hips and lifting. Gabriel immediately locked his ankles behind Sam's back, biting back a moan at the friction of their bodies moving together. With one hand in Gabriel's hair and the other biting into his hip, Sam rolled his hips and huffed a laugh at the moan Gabriel just couldn't hold in. "You like that, Trickster?"

The Trickster's competitive spirit rose up and prompted him to tighten his legs around Sam, pulling them closer together, before pushing his own hips into Sam's. The hunter groaned and dropped his head to Gabriel's shoulder. Gabriel smirked and turned his head to whisper, "I can give as good as I get, kiddo. And call me Loki."

Sam shuddered and pressed impossibly closer to him. Their lips met again and Gabriel worked his hands between them to begin working on the many layers that separated them. Just as he got to the last button and ran a hand down the very toned torso in front of him, Sam started to waver. "No, don't go, Sammy."

The hunter groaned and pressed a last desperate kiss to Gabriel's lips, holding him tightly before fading away. Gabriel's feet fell to the floor and he landed roughly as the dream faded.

The archangel sighed and ran a hand over his face before looking down to stare belligerently at the prominent tent in his pants. "Well, fuck."

**##########**

Sam woke slowly to Dean's incessant poking. "Finally, man, I was wondering if you were still feeling that chloroform Doc dosed you with. Get up and get dressed. We got a lead. I'm gonna run and get us some breakfast. Be ready when I get back!" Dean called as he closed to door to their room.

Sam waited until Dean left the room to pull the covers back. His erection, tenting the fabric of his boxers, would have been impossible to hide from Dean. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and stood to grab some clean(ish) clothes and make his way to the bathroom. He stripped, letting out a grunt of relief when his dick was finally free of the confining material. He stepped into the shower and turned the temperature as hot as he could stand it before hesitantly reaching down to grasp his erection.

As many times as he had had dreams about the Trickster, he had never acted on the thoughts outside of his subconscious. Doing this, masturbating to thoughts of what they had done in his dreams, was going to cross a line he wasn't sure he wanted to cross. The memory of their shared kiss in the library all those months ago sent a bolt of lust through him, prompting him to move his hand and careen head-first over that line.

Trying to remember his dream from minutes ago, Sam closed his eyes and began to stroke himself. This dream had been different, had been more real. He could almost taste the candy that had coated the Trickster's tongue as they kissed. Could hear his voice in his ear. He remembered the heat of the other's hand as it had trailed down his chest to tease the short hairs leading into his pants and...

With a moan, Sam came. He rested his head against the wall of the shower and panted as he continued to stroke himself and ride out the feeling of the best self-induced orgasm he had had in a long time. When his breathing finally evened out, he rinsed off and hurried to dress as he heard Dean yelling in the next room.

"Come on, Sammy!"

**##########**

Gabriel lay boneless on his bed, breathing hard. Sam had completely taken him by surprise. When Gabriel had realized what Sam was doing, he had been quick to follow suit. It wasn't quite the same as actually being with the tall hunter, but it would have to do.

The archangel sighed and rolled over onto his stomach after snapping himself clean. Relaxed and sated, he quickly fell asleep.

Hours later, he was abruptly woken by the simultaneous screams of Sam and the loud burst of chatter over Angel Radio. He stood and clothed himself with a snap before opening his wings and flying to Sam. Careful to keep himself invisible, he searched through the house. He found the hunter clutching the shredded, lifeless body of his older brother. The anguish on his face tore at Gabriel. He ran a hand through his hair and laid a hand on Sam's shoulder. The hunter couldn't feel him, but maybe a small dose of grace would help ease his pain.

Gabriel shadowed Sam, a silent witness to his pain, as the younger Winchester loaded his brother's body into the back seat of the Impala, as he fought with Bobby about burying his brother. He was there when Sam and Bobby broke into a funeral home and stole a plain pine box, when they found the clearing outside of Pontiac and dug a six-foot hole. Sam gently removed the amulet Dean wore before closing the lid, the constant presence of tears in his eyes making it difficult to see. Bobby helped Sam lower the box into the ground and fill in the hole before taking off to drown his sorrows.

Sam stood silent before his brother's grave. Finally, he couldn't hold up the front anymore and fell to his knees. Tears tracked down his face, but the boy was silent in his grief. Gabriel silently stepped behind the hunter and wrapped his arms around him. Since he was still keeping himself from being seen or heard, he indulged the need to comfort Sam.

Long minutes passed before Sam sighed and rubbed his eyes before standing and walking slowly back to Dean's...to _his_ car. Gabriel watched him go, grief tugging at the angel. He knew the coming months until Dean came back – and even afterwards – would be incredibly difficult for Sam.


	3. Chapter 3

Every night, Gabriel asked for guidance from his Father. He wasn't sure if killing Ruby would be a good idea or a horribly bad one, but he was very tempted not to care. At least he had been able to keep Sam from taking her blood. A subtle nudge of _this is wrong_ or _oh, God, that's totally gross_ was usually enough to keep the giant idiot from actually saying yes to the demon bitch. Once or twice Ruby had been angry enough to try to force it on him, which helped with Sam's conviction not to do it.

Gabriel said a prayer of thanks in every language and religion he knew was legit when Dean finally came back. Of course, it was really the beginning of the end, but at least Sam would be marginally better off now.

Except he kept sneaking off to use his demon-blood powers to hunt demons. Which, okay it was bad, but it would have been so much worse if he had been on Ruby's blood, too. The archangel kept a close eye on the brothers, and he could have kissed Dean when the older brother convinced Sam to stop using his powers.

Damn Alastair for being the catalyst for Sam to give in to the urging of Ruby. Gabriel watched helplessly as the hunter fed from Ruby's wrist before going to help Dean. He couldn't even tag along because of the angels there. He sighed and plopped down on Sam's bed after he and Ruby had left.

"What the hell am I even doing? I can't change anything. Can't help at all. Just gonna make everything worse for everybody," he mumbled as he ran his hands over his face in defeat.

"I wouldn't say that, brother."

Gabriel's head shot up at the voice. "What the...hell? You aren't supposed to know I'm here!"

Castiel simply tilted his head. "I am more observant than you think. Sam Winchester has traces of an archangel's Grace within him. It was simple to find out whose once I was close enough."

Gabriel chuckled. "Well, shit. Not too shabby, little bro. Who else knows?"

"Only myself. Uriel is...unwilling...to be in close proximity to humans, much less the boy with demon blood." At Gabriel's affronted expression, he added, "It is true, Gabriel. You can't deny that. Even now he has more of the taint running through him." The younger angel watched as Gabriel's face fell.

"Yeah, I couldn't stop him. He was doing so good at saying no, too!"

"Because of your influence, I assume. Perhaps this will end differently than before."

"Wait, what? Did Dad send you back, too?"

Castiel shook his head. "No; however, He did show me pieces of what your timeline entailed. Even now, both of the Winchesters are different men than what they were before. I believe that is due to your influence."

Gabriel sighed. "Hopefully between the two of us, we can end this before it really begins. Are you going to be mister espionage this time?" Castiel tilted his head as his face scrunched in confusion. "Duh, the panic room. Letting Sam out?"

Castiel had the grace to look ashamed. "I believed I was doing Father's work. Now I know that is untrue. No, Gabriel, I will not let Sam out of the panic room. I will, however, try to ease his symptoms."

"No, Cas, you stick to Dean. I'll deal with Sammy. Speaking of Dean, he's probably getting his ass kicked by Alastair at the moment," Gabriel reminded him. The flutter of wings signaled an end to their conversation.

Gabriel sighed and dropped his head into his hands. He still had such a long way to go, so many turns that could turn out wrong. In the silence of the motel room, he let his fears and insecurities have free reign, no longer able to keep his hope buoyed.

For long minutes, he wallowed in the misery. A hand on his shoulder jerked him out of his thoughts. Chuck smiled at the downtrodden archangel.

"Uh...Dad?"

"Not quite yet, Gabriel. But soon. He did want me to come talk to you. He uh...He said you would need some advice and a pep talk." Now that Chuck had spoken, Gabriel could tell that it definitely wasn't his father inhabiting that form.

Gabriel sighed again. "Yeah, well. He'd be right."

Chuck rubbed his hands together and sat gingerly beside the angel. "So. For the advice part. Castiel will still set Sam free from the panic room. I know he said he wouldn't, but Uriel can be...persuasive. That's gonna be your chance to talk him down. Zachariah will screw with their phones when Dean calls Sam. It's the catalyst that breaks Sam down to drink the nurse's blood and go postal on Lilith."

"So fix the phone and don't let Zach's trick fuck with Sam's head. Got it."

"If, for some reason, that fails, Sam _cannot_ be the one to kill Lilith. That's part of the seal. Lucifer's vessel and all."

"Take her out myself, then?" the angel asked.

"That should work. But she's powerful, so be careful," Chuck replied.

"Just one question. Can I gank Ruby?"

Chuck laughed. "Oh please do. It won't screw anything up this late in the game. She died right after Lilith in your first go at this."

"Good. I have a score to settle with her."

Chuck nodded. "Well, I gotta get going. The guys are going to be meeting me in a few days and I have to go home and forget all about this." He stood to leave, but hesitated at the door. "Y'know, I think it's pretty awesome that you care enough to try to change this for Sam. From what He's shown me," Chuck gestured vaguely upwards, "freeing Lucifer really hurt Sam. Darkened his soul. I have faith in you Gabriel."

At Chuck's words, the archangel felt a jolt of awareness go through him. It seemed like such a small thing, that word.

Faith.

But the feeling behind it gave it power - gave _Gabriel_ power. And confidence. The re-purposed archangel stood and, with a nod at Chuck, took wing.

**##########**

For the next few weeks, he laid low and gathered power. When he felt Sam's pain from the withdrawals, he knew it was almost time. With a quick prayer that this would work, Gabriel cloaked himself in shadows and flew to Sam. The hunter had just been freed by Castiel, and was sneaking from the house. The archangel followed closely, wanting to be right there when it was time to stop Sam.

The fact that the kiddo was hesitant about drinking the demon's blood when it was in the backseat helped Gabriel's resolve to keep him from doing just that.

**##########**

Sam listened to the voicemail from Dean, his last-ditch effort to sway himself from Ruby's urgings. The hateful words spewing from the phone were like ice shards, tearing into his heart. He swallowed hard and turned to Ruby. Before he could tell her to bring him the girl, the Trickster appeared behind him and grabbed his sleeve.

"Sam, wait. Before you do this, I need you to do me a favor."

Sam glanced at Ruby, but the demon was frozen in time. With a sigh, he turned to face the shorter man. "What, Loki? What could possibly be that important right now?"

Gabriel stared up at Sam, sincerity written across his face. "Let me see your phone. Please, Sam!" The hunter rolled his eyes but handed the phone over. The archangel-in-disguise ran a hand over it and gave it back. "Now, listen to that voicemail again."

"Why? So I can hear my brother tell me that I'm a monster?"

"Sammy, kiddo, please trust me. Just...listen to it."

Sam stared hard down at the Trickster, searching his face for any signs of this being a joke or trick. Instead, he had never seen the man's face so open before. Nothing was hidden, not his worry or fear or hope. So Sam huffed a sigh and once again dialed his voicemail. When he heard the soft words, gruffly affectionate, tears welled in his eyes before slowly tracking down his face. When the message ended, cutting off Dean's _I'm sorry_, the younger Winchester looked to the Trickster in askance.

"The angels fucked with your phone, Sam. Or Dean's, but the point is, they're trying to push you into starting this, into freeing Lucifer. If you kill Lilith, the last seal is broken and he walks free. So please, please Sam. Don't do this."

Before Sam could reply, a knife was thrust through the shorter man's chest. A look of surprise crossed his face before he turned to see Ruby's smirk. "Sorry, man. It's too late."

Gabriel glared at the demon bitch. "Might wanna close your eyes there, Sammykins."

Even with his eyes closed and his hand covering them, Sam could perceive the brightness of Loki's attack on Ruby. Her short scream was cut off abruptly, but the light shined on for several moments. Finally, the shorter man tugged Sam's hand away from his face. Glancing around, Ruby was nowhere to be seen, and Loki no longer had a wound in the middle of his chest.

"What just happened? Where'd she go?"

Loki glared at the tall hunter. "I sent her to hell."

Sam's breath caught in his chest. "Oh," he replied in a small voice.

"_Oh_? Seriously? She was a demon, Sam, and she was manipulating you. The big plan to kill Lilith was her using you to open the gates to Lucifer's cage."

"But...she helped us. She saved my life more than once."

"Of course she did. It has to be you that kills Lilith. It's part of the seal."

Sam's disbelief warred with heartbreak. Of course she hadn't felt anything for him. He was just a tool, an instrument to be honed and cared for until he could be useful.

Gabriel sighed and grabbed Sam's hand. "Sam, I'm sorry. I wish I could have done something sooner. Before she got her claws in you."

The taller man snatched his hand away. "How can I believe you? You killed my brother. You have tricked me every time we've met. This is probably just another trick."

Panic rushed through Gabriel as Sam stalked to the car. When the hunter simply cranked it, the panic subsided for the moment. The car reversed and gravel flew as Sam sped away. Gabriel took wing and followed Sam closely, taking a moment to snap the nurse – without the demon inside her – back home. When they arrived at the church where Lilith was waiting, he tried another tactic.

"What about your dreams? Do I trick you in them?" the angel asked as he appeared beside the angry hunter.

"The fact that you even know I have them means you probably sent them to me," Sam growled as he made his way up to the old building.

"Dammit, Sam, _stop!_"

Sam felt himself hit an invisible wall. Anger flowed through him as he spun around to face the shorter man. "Why? So you can tell me more about how the only person to show an interest in me in _years_ was just using me? Oh wait, there's you, too, right? The Trickster that tried to kill me, that _killed_ my brother over and over and _over_ again, just for kicks. I really pick winners, don't I? So forgive me if I don't express gratitude that you killed my girlfriend."

"You're as stupid as you are tall. Ruby was in cahoots with Lilith! She's been playing you since she met you, worming her way into your good graces to guide you down a path that will free Lucifer. Why do you think she was so determined to get you to drink her blood? It was another way to control you, to keep you on a leash." Gabriel took a few steps forward, ending up toe to toe with the hunter. "And _yes_, I am interested in you. I've _been_ interested since the first time we met. You are all of my kinks rolled into one moose-shaped package. So ex-freaking-scuse me for trying to save you from yourself!"

Sam's chest heaved as he breathed through his anger and tried to work out everything Loki had said. The pagan was standing there, just as livid, and Sam swore there were sparks coming from his whiskey colored eyes. The next second, Sam's lips crashed into Loki's. Hands gripped, pulling each other closer as the kiss turned less punishing and more savoring. Sam grunted as Loki bit his lip gently before retaliating with a questing tongue. Loki opened immediately, breath catching at the sensation.

The two were brought up short by a shout coming from the church. Another shout came and Sam took off running, shouting, "Dean!" as he went.

Gabriel sighed and snapped, appearing beside Dean long enough to send him to Sam at the entrance of the church, blocking the doorway to keep Sam away. Then he turned and faced the first demon. "Hello, Lilith. Looking good for your age. I bet you moisturize a lot, huh?"

"The littlest archangel. You really think you have a chance against me? I'm as powerful as I am old, and you are a baby compared to my power."

"Y'know, I just don't feel like that's quite true," Gabriel sassed, "being that I have a few thousand years on you. Between the two of us, I'd say my chances are pretty good."

"Care to dance, then?"

Gabriel smirked and released his blade. "Thought you'd never ask, babe."

The two came together, a clash of light and dark. Gabriel's blade sparked along the sword Lilith had conjured. It was black as night, almost four feet long, with a blood groove running down both sides of the blade.

"A broadsword for a broad, huh? Guess I should join the party for reals." Light began to emanate from the blade in his hands, growing bright enough that Lilith had to back away and cover her eyes. When the light faded and she was able to look at her opponent once more, his angel blade was gone. In its place was a claymore, double-edged, nearly as tall as Gabriel himself. The angel wielded it with ease, giving it a few twirls with fluid motions of his wrist.

Gabriel drew his attention back to Lilith and grinned. A second later, he attacked. Where his angel blade was small and not really good for this sort of combat, the sword he held now was almost a living extension of himself. It was the sword he wielded as the Archangel of Justice.

Lilith grinned madly at the angel as their blades clashed. They swung their swords, blades locking together as they struggled for dominance. The demon leaned close and cooed, "You're going to lose, angel. You're going to watch your little hunter free my father, and then he's going to say yes to him. He's going to be what he is destined to be and _you can't stop it._"

Gabriel snarled. "Just watch me, bitch," he grunted as he poured his strength into pushing Lilith's blade back. The demon looked shocked at the reversal, standing defenseless with her blade in an awkward position off to the side.

In a dizzying display of speed and skill, Gabriel's sword sang through air to sever Lilith's head from her body. A jolt of flame shot down the blade, cauterizing the wound so that not a single drop of blood was spilled.

As Gabriel stood there, breathing hard and still gripping his sword, the double doors behind him burst open. Three hunters piled into the room. Bobby and Dean stopped at the doorway, neither having been aware that the Trickster was alive.

Sam kept moving into the room, taking long strides to meet the pagan in the middle of the room. He stood for a moment, indecision apparent on his face, before rolling his shoulders back and stepping closer to the man he knew as Loki and wrapping his long arms around the shorter man.

Gabriel blinked at the gesture before his free hand rose to Sam's back, pulling the hunter a little closer as the Trickster closed his eyes and relished the contact with Sam. He opened them a moment later when a large hand landed on his shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4

"Nice sword, there, for a Trickster. Last I heard, they didn't exactly give those swords out to just anybody," Bobby said with a harsh look.

Gabriel returned the look with a calculating one. "You know, I really thought Samsquatch here would figure it out first."

Sam pulled away to glance down. "Figure what out?"

Bobby snorted. "That ain't no Trickster, you idjit."

The look of adorable confusion on the youngest hunter's face was almost too much. With an eye roll, Gabriel vanished and reappeared a few feet away, sword once again put away, as he took a flourished bow. "The archangel Gabriel, at your service."

Silence reigned for long moments. Naturally, Dean was the first to speak. "Gabriel? Not a fucking chance, pipsqueak."

"And why not? Because my vessel is short? I came to earth thousands of years ago, you ass. Short was in," Gabriel shot back.

The three hunters stood in a loose semi-circle around the angel. Dean looked irritated, Bobby looked wary, and Sam just looked confused. Finally, Sam spoke up. "Thank you."

Dean jerked his head around to stare at his brother. "You're _thanking_ him? He killed me!"

"And he saved me!" Sam shot back. "Ruby was...Ruby was using me. Killing Lilith was the last seal. Lucifer's vessel, spilling the blood of the first demon. He stopped me and then he...he killed Ruby."

"Why are you helping us?" Bobby finally spoke up, interrupting Dean's inevitable tirade.

Gabriel looked over at the older hunter. "I'm trying to stop something big. I've seen the end, old man. It's not pretty and sure as hell not fun. So excuse me for trying to step in before it all goes to shit." At the blank stares facing him, he sighed. "Look, let's just say that I have a chance to rewrite the future, and I'm going to take it."

Dean opened his mouth to say something, but closed it just as quickly.

"Can we just...go? I would really like to be as far from this place as possible," Sam said quietly.

The other two men nodded and trekked outside to where Bobby had parked his car. Dean folded himself into the passenger seat and looked expectantly at Sam, who gestured to his own car. "I'll take this one. Doesn't look like much room for me in that one." Dean's brows furrowed and he glared at Gabriel, who simply rolled his eyes and disappeared.

Sam ignored his brother and slid into his own car, glancing over at Gabriel in the passenger seat, nonchalantly eating a candy bar while he waited.

When Sam was comfortable, Gabriel spoke. "So. I can feel that noggin of yours just bursting with questions."

Sam sighed and gripped the steering wheel tighter as he pulled away from the church. "In the other future... did you… I mean, did we...?" Sam looked decidedly uncomfortable, but curious enough to ask.

Gabriel sighed. "No. I didn't see you again after you ditched Dean-o and me until when you guys 'killed' me. After that, it was a few months before we met again. And then a while later, I died. For you guys."

Sam ran a hand over his face. "This is ridiculous." Suddenly, he turned to look at the archangel. "I can't be attracted to you. I've never been attracted to a man before."

A sound of disbelief escaped Gabriel. He turned wide eyes to the man beside him. "_That's_ what this is about? Your precious sexuality? If that's all it is, how do you know I wasn't _Gabriella_ before I took on a male form?"

"Were you?" the hunter asked incredulously.

"Well, no, but that's not the point! You're not attracted to men in general, Samsquatch. You're attracted to me, in particular." At Sam's look of denial, Gabriel cut him off before he could speak. "Look, you're totally missing the point. I am not male. I'm a celestial being turned Norse god, turned...do-gooder – which, by the way, does not come easy to me after millennia of being a force of chaos. I don't fit into the human spectrum of gender identity or attraction. I do have to say, though, I have had _plenty_ of practice with it. And with this body."

When Gabriel winked at him, Sam felt his earlier nausea return as everything seemed to come to a head. The angel must have noticed, because he stopped pushing. He simply sighed and said, "Let's move on."

Sam nodded weakly and tried to relax. "Gabriel, huh? Honestly wouldn't have pegged you for the warrior. Not because of the height." Gabriel snorted. "Just...you don't seem to take very many things seriously."

"That was the point. I ran away from home to get away from seriousness. Nothing like having your older brothers duking it out every few years to need a vacation."

Sam nodded in sympathy, still trying to regain his equilibrium.

They were quickly approaching the motel Bobby had been staying at. Sam clenched the steering wheel as he wondered how this was going to go now. Was Gabriel going to keep trying to harass them? Was he going to join Team Free Will? Or, now that he had circumvented the Apocalypse, would he just disappear?

Too many questions floated around in Sam's brain, and he nearly missed the turn to the motel. At the sharp turn and squealing tires, Gabriel turned to him with a quirked eyebrow and a smirk. "Having troubles there, Sammy?"

Sam grit his teeth and bit out, "Don't call me that. And just...be quiet. For two minutes, please."

With another quirk of the brow and a mocking salute, Gabriel turned to look out the window. He could hear Sam's louder thoughts, but chose to let the kid be for now. Instead, he delved into the minds of those they passed on the road. Most were filled with thoughts of getting home, of wishing for the weekend, but one gave the Trickster in him a jolt of righteous fury. Between one second and the next, the shorter man was gone, only to reappear in the trunk of a car they had passed seconds before.

The girl tied up in the small space screamed behind her gag. Gabriel quickly reached out and brushed his fingertips across her forehead. The girl instantly calmed and relaxed into his touch. "Okay, sweetie, let's get you out of here."

Gabriel flew them back to Sam's car, landing gently in the back seat. "Change of plans, Sam. We need to go to a hospital."

"Shit, Gabriel!" The car swerved slightly as Sam jolted in surprise. When he saw their new passenger, he pulled over immediately. "What the hell, man? You kidnapped some kid?"

The look Gabriel shot him was pure venom. "Of course I didn't! I just saved her from her kidnapper. Can you please drive to the hospital?"

Suspicion entered Sam's gaze. "Why can't you take her?"

Gabriel went from concerned archangel to furious Trickster in seconds. "I'm going to go dish out a little justice."

Sam swallowed down his initial reaction and nodded. "I'll take care of her."

Gabriel smiled a little and reached forward to tousle Sam's hair. "I know. That's why I brought her to you. Be back soon, Sammy!"

The sound of wings and the scent of ozone signaled Gabriel's departure. Sam checked on the young girl in the backseat every few minutes as he drove as quickly as he dared to the hospital. In the parking lot, he carefully untied her wrists and gently pulled the cloth from her mouth. "C'mon sweetie. We're gonna get you looked after, okay?"

The girl nodded numbly and wrapped her arms loosely around Sam's neck as he stood. Her head lolled against his shoulder and she smiled as his warmth seeped into her. The hunter strode calmly into the emergency room and up to the desk. The nurse was looking at him warily, glancing to the girl in concern.

"May I help you?" she asked.

Sam smiled the puppy smile that always relaxed people. "Hi, yes. I found this girl outside my apartment building. She was banging on the lid of a trunk, so I busted it open and found her tied up and gagged. Then I brought her here."

The nurse's eyes widened and Sam saw her hand dart below the desk, where he knew a panic button rested. He stood there calmly as two security guards showed up out of nowhere, standing a few feet behind him. Another hospital employee brought a wheelchair for the girl to sit in, but she clung tighter to Sam when he tried to put her down and refused to release him.

Sam murmured to the girl reassuringly, but still she clung to him. Finally, he informed the waiting transporter that he would carry his charge. Within minutes, he was sitting in a room inside the ER, answering what few questions he could about the girl he held. He tried to get her to answer some herself, but she whimpered every time the nurse tried to touch her to get her attention.

The whole time, Gabriel kept up a running commentary in Sam's head about what he was doing to the man who had kidnapped the girl. Sam couldn't dredge up the slightest amount of worry for the man, only a sort of sick satisfaction that Gabriel was making sure he couldn't do anything like this again. Especially when Gabriel informed Sam that this was far from the first young girl he had abducted.

Hours later, after child protective services had been called and the girl sedated enough to be placed in a bed without freaking out, Gabriel reappeared. Sam, half-asleep in a very uncomfortable chair beside the bed, jolted awake at the sudden sense of _not alone_. He blinked blearily and yawned as Gabriel gently smoothed over the girl's hair with a soft look on his face.

"Her name is Mia. She's thirteen, and she's been in foster care for six years," Sam said quietly.

A look of determination crossed Gabriel's face. "We're taking her with us."

Sam gawked at the archangel. "Seriously? We don't know her, she doesn't know us. What are we going to do with a barely-teenaged girl? Dean and I know nothing about raising kids."

Gabriel fixed him with a level stare. "Then I'll take care of her. But when we leave this hospital, she's coming, too. I'm not joking."

Sam sighed and wiped his hand down his face. "Fine. You get to explain that to the security guards that walk by every ten minutes, and CPS, and the nurse that glares at me like I'm the one who abducted her."

Gabriel snapped his fingers and a piece of paper appeared in front of Sam, floating there and waiting for him to take it. Reading over it, he realized that it was essentially custody over Mia, granted by her parents to one Gabriel Winchester. Sam bitchfaced at the angel. "Really? Gabriel Winchester?"

Gabriel smirked. "Well, there has to be a tie to you, too. And your really weak lie about finding her outside of your apartment was lame. So I fixed it. You found her room empty and went looking for her like a vigilante and found her in the trunk of that car while the guy was inside a store. Much cooler story."

Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You know what? Whatever. As long as they stop treating me like a criminal."

"Technically, you _are_ a criminal, Sam-I-am. You're a wanted felon. I've seen your rap sheet. It's not a pretty sight," Gabriel teased as he rounded the bed and came to stand in front of the hunter. Even sitting, he was nearly as tall as Gabriel was standing.

With another bitchface, Sam opened his mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by Gabriel's weight suddenly dropping into his lap. The words became stuck in his throat as the smaller man's legs spread to encircle Sam's waist, leaving their faces close and their groins closer. The hunter had a sudden flash of the dream he had had months ago, the most vivid one to date about the snarky man in his lap.

Gabriel smirked as he felt Sam's cock twitch in his jeans. He gently rolled his hips, shuddering a bit as the teasing motion backfired on him. The archangel dropped his head to Sam's shoulder, just breathing in the scent that was undeniably _Sam_. When Sam's hands came up to rest on Gabriel's sides, the angel simply moved closer to the taller man and smiled when Sam's head lowered slowly to rest on Gabriel's shoulder. The two sat there, just taking each other in, for long minutes. Finally, Sam spoke.

"I was so mad at you. Just two hours ago, I was so angry at you that I was determined to hate you. But the way you rushed in and took out Lilith, I was more scared _for_ you than mad _at_ you, I guess. I'm not ready for anything between us right now, Gabriel. But one day, I think...I think I want to try. Can you give me time to get used to the idea?"

Gabriel took a deep breath. "Honestly, kiddo, that's more than I expected. I _like _you, Sam. That's actually pretty rare for me. I tolerate people at best. But you – you're different. I can give you whatever time you need because of that. Just, don't be a dick about it, okay? Go, have your masculinity-affirming one-night-stands, but don't rub it in my face."

Sam pushed Gabriel back to look at his face, his brow furrowed in confusion. "I'm not going to go sleeping around, Gabriel. The waiting thing isn't about sleeping with a guy, it's about the fact that the girl I've been dating for months is suddenly dead. Don't get me wrong, the guy part is going to take some time to get my head around, but I'm more focused on you killing my girlfriend."

The angel glared at him. "Demon girlfriend, using you to bring about the apocalypse. You're welcome."

Sam closed his eyes as his fingers curled tighter around Gabriel's sides. His eyes jolted back open when the angel jerked and snorted in his lap. A sinister smile spread across his lips. "Are you...ticklish?"

Horror bloomed in Gabriel's eyes. "No! Not at all. Shouldn't even try it, might hurt your-"

His words were cut off as Sam's fingers began dancing across his sides, but he retaliated quickly with his own questing fingertips. Laughter bubbled up in their chests, spilling out in gasps and wheezes as they tried to catch their breath. When they finally calmed down from the impromptu tickle war, Gabriel sighed and looked over at Mia. "Well, Sammy, we might not be together, but we just became parents."

Sam groaned. "To a teenager, no less."

Gabriel chuckled, but the sound was cut short as Mia began shifting around on the bed. "Ready or not, here we go."


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as the young girl came into full consciousness, she was whimpering and beginning to hyperventilate. Sam was at her side the next second, leaving Gabriel gaping from where Sam had pushed him into the other chair. As soon as Mia caught sight of Sam, she reached for him, nearly crying as the tall hunter gathered her into his arms and began murmuring reassurances to her as he sat next to her on the bed.

"Well, one of us is already rocking the parent thing," Gabriel muttered to himself. He stood and made his way to the other two, watching curiously as Sam expertly calmed the girl that was now their responsibility. When Mia caught sight of Gabriel, she froze, her fingers clutching even tighter to Sam's shirt.

Sam caught the angel's eye and nodded. As Gabriel moved closer, the hunter spoke to Mia softly. "This is Gabriel. He's a friend of mine, and he would never do anything to hurt you. I promise."

Mia turned her soulful eyes to him at that point. Gabriel swallowed and stepped closer. He saw the exact moment she realized who he was, because she smiled so widely it hurt his own cheeks and reached for him with one hand. The other stayed gripped tight to Sam's shirt, so Gabriel stepped as close as he could to the side of the bed that the hunter and the teenager were settled on. As Mia's left hand gripped onto his own jacket, he realized that she had quite thoroughly latched onto the both of them.

For a long while, Mia simply held onto their clothes, reassuring herself that the two weren't going to leave. After a while, though, the drugs they had given her started to wear on her again and she could barely keep her eyes open. The third time her head darted back up after nodding off, Gabriel chuckled and stood. "I'm going to go see what's taking so long to release her," he said, untangling Mia's hand from his jacket and setting it on Sam's arm.

In the hallway, he flagged down a nurse and asked just that. The nurse looked sourly at him and said, "CPS still hasn't validated the paperwork. We can't send her home with two men who aren't related to her!"

Gabriel glared. "I have custody of her. She's my family, and we want to take her home where she can rest properly."

The nurse raised a brow. "If you leave before we get confirmation from CPS, the both of you could be charged with child abduction."

Gabriel took in a deep breath and turned around, intending to go back to Mia's room. He heard a sigh behind him and a soft, "Wait!"

He turned back to face the nurse and lifted a brow. The woman sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry. It's been a hard day, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I'll try to see what's taking CPS so long with the paperwork."

"Thank you. We really do just want what's best for Mia," the archangel reassured the woman.

When Gabriel returned to Mia's room, the girl was asleep once again. Sam looked up at his entrance and smiled at him before asking softly, "Would you mind taking her? I need to go check in with Dean."

Suddenly feeling nervous, the angel swallowed and moved forward to take Sam's place on the bed beside Mia. The sleeping girl took little notice of the change in her security blanket, simply clutched at Gabriel's shirt once he was settled beside her. Sam stood in the doorway and smiled at the pair, sneaking a picture with his phone before stepping outside.

Dean, of course, was livid. _"Where the hell are you two?"_ were his opening words.

Sam sighed. "I'm at the hospital." Ignoring Dean's screeched _what?!_, Sam continued, "Gabriel saved a young girl from being abducted. We're in the ER with her now, but they won't let us leave until the paperwork goes through. Oh, congratulations, by the way. You're an uncle now."

_"Come again? Please tell me you did not just adopt some random kid, Sammy."_

Sam rubbed a hand across his forehead. "Look, Dean, we'll be there as soon as we can. We'll even fly Angel Air to get there quicker."

Dean sighed on the other end of the line. _"Just get here in one piece. I still don't trust that pint-sized menace."_

"Can I just take a minute to remind you that _you don't actually remember Broward County?_"

_"Shit, Sammy. I'm sorry. Just... be careful."_

"Yeah, Dean, I will. We'll be there as soon as we can." Sam ended the call before Dean could reply. He made his way back to Mia's room, where a nurse was smiling at Gabriel and speaking softly. When Gabriel caught sight of him, his golden eyes lit up and the edges of his lips twitch like he was holding back a smile.

"Sammy, Krista here was just telling me that the paperwork came through and all we have to do is sign a few things before we get Mia home."

Sam smiled in relief. "That's great. Hospitals are not my favorite place to be."

Krista gave a small laugh and said lightly, "Sometimes they're not mine, either."

The three adults chuckled for a moment before Krista had to check on her other patients. Before she left, she wished them luck with Mia.

Twenty minutes later, the hunter, the archangel, and their new teenage charge walked out of the hospital. They drove to a secluded spot with no people around before disappearing.

Half an hour away, they reappeared in the parking lot of the motel where Bobby and Dean waited. Sam lifted a still-drowsy Mia into his arms, smiling when she latched onto him like a baby koala, and followed Gabriel to Room 14. The archangel opened the door without knocking and smirked at the firearms pointed his way.

"Aww, thanks for the warm and fuzzy welcome, guys. Now put the toys away and meet the newest Winchester!" the shorter man said with a dramatic motion toward Sam and his hanger-on.

Bobby sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. Dean stared at the dark-headed girl for a moment before turning his gaze to Sam. Whatever he saw in his brother's eyes reassured him, and he nodded before stepping forward to meet his new niece. Sam gave his brother a little smile of encouragement as he did so.

"She hasn't spoken since we found her. The doctor at the ER said it could be a side effect of the trauma of being taken. She doesn't like to be touched either," Sam warned.

Dean snorted. "Then what's with the monkey act?"

Gabriel grinned. "Ain't she cute, though?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "She's latched onto me - and Gabriel - pretty hard. We were thinking it's because we're the ones who rescued her." He turned his attention to Mia and tried to wake her up. "Hey, Mia, there's some people I want you to meet. C'mon, wake up."

The girl shook her head and snuggled closer. Sam huffed a laugh and strode further into the room and up to the bed nearest the door - Dean's, of course - and tickled her sides until she shrieked with laughter and let go of his neck. She dropped to the bed and giggled as she recovered from the unexpected attack.

When she finally looked up at Sam, he smiled and pulled Dean closer. "Mia, this is my brother, Dean. That scruffy, bear-looking thing over there is my uncle, Bobby. It's all family here, so you're completely safe, okay?"

Mia smiled and nodded at Sam before turning to Dean. The older hunter didn't expect her to fly at him with arms spread, but he accepted the hug with a smile. Before he could bring his arms up to hug back, she was gone in a flurry of motion, off to hug Bobby with the same enthusiasm she had shown him. Dean raised a brow and turned to Sam. "Obviously gets her energy from Shortstack."

Sam snorted in amusement. Gabriel grinned and butted in. "And her hair from the moose. Look at the gloriousness of it!"

Dean laughed, both at Gabriel's words - because it was true, Sam's hair was something else - and at Sam's affronted expression.

Before the glorious moose could defend himself and his hair, they were sidetracked by Mia's sudden appearance in front of them. The girl barely came up to Sam's chest, and he felt something in him shift as she smiled trustingly up at him before wrapping her arms around him. Gabriel was next in the attack of hugs. The newest addition to their haphazard family held onto the archangel the longest. Gabriel smiled and wrapped his arms around her, tugging her hair playfully.

Bobby chose that moment to speak up. "I hate to ruin the touching Lifetime movie moment, but I think maybe we need to talk about the whole Lilith situation. Or maybe about the apocalypse waiting to happen."

Gabriel sighed and stepped away from Mia. "I stopped the apocalypse. Lilith was the last seal to Lucifer's cage. Sam didn't kill her, and none of her blood hit the ground, which negated the whole thing. And since she's dead, by an archangel's sword, no less, she can't be used ever again to open the cage. Unless Daddy dearest decides to let Luci out for playtime, anyways."

"Yeah, well, let's hope that doesn't happen anytime soon," Dean said seriously.

Bobby spoke up again. "Well. What do we do now?"

Gabriel smirked. "Excellent question, Singer. I, for one, am taking my Mia and my moose home. What you lot do is up to you."

"Seriously, Gabriel? I am not _your_ moose. And stop calling me moose!"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Geez. You guys bicker like a married couple. And hey, you already have a kid. Mazel tov, guys."

"Really, Dean? Nice to know the pending apocalypse hasn't dulled your sense of humor. And speaking of married couples, where's your other half?" Sam asked.

Dean face shut down. "Raphael."

Sam winced. "I'm sorry, dude."

"Okay, that's enough. Sam, if feathers here is right, you need to go take care of that little girl. Dean, you can stick with me and practice your researching skills. We all know you're shit at it."

"Thanks, Bobby. Love you, too," Dean snarked back, thankful for the distraction from what had happened to Cas - what Cas had given up for him.

Gabriel grinned. "The sarcasm is strong in this one. I knew there was a reason I like you, Dean-o!"

Sam leveled a glare at the archangel. "Yes, you liked him so much you killed him. Every day. For months."

Gabriel had the grace to look sorry. "You know I wasn't trying to be mean, Sammy!"

Sam sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Can we just get Mia somewhere safe and a little more...normal? We can discuss your awful choices for teaching lessons later."

The archangel leered. "You promise?"

The hunter bitchfaced. The shorter man held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. Munchkin, you ready to go for a ride?"

Mia grinned and nodded, taking Gabriel's hand when he reached for her. Sam was more reluctant to hold the angel's hand, but finally grasped the appendage offered. Gabriel's fingers tightened gently around Sam's, his thumb running over the other man's knuckles as he took wing.

The trip was over in a fraction of a second, and they landed smoothly in the living room of a spacious apartment. Gabriel felt an odd burst of anxiety, hoping that Mia and Sam liked his home. The little girl looked around and smiled, already feeling at home in the cozy space.

Sam snorted as he took in the massive movie collection. But, honestly, the place was really nice. He browsed the rooms as Gabriel took Mia to hers. He heard the angel tell her to close her eyes and imagine the perfect bedroom. A few seconds later, he heard her gasp. He stood in the doorway and smiled as Mia spun around to look at the whole room. She jumped up and down for a moment before rushing to Gabriel and wrapping her arms around his waist. The hunter's smile softened at the warm look on Gabriel's face. Acting on impulse, he strode into the room and joined the hug. Mia immediately wrapped an arm around him and smiled up at him.

Gabriel looked up at him with some confusion on his face, but didn't hesitate to bring his arm around the hunter. Sam just smiled at the two and stood there, basking in the feeling of having a family for himself. He knew that things would not be easy, and that he still had a lot to work through before he could really think of Gabriel as a romantic partner, but this was a start.


	6. Chapter 6

Later that night, after Gabriel had snapped them up something to eat, Sam realized that there were only two beds in the apartment. He let this revelation stew while Mia got ready for bed, when she grabbed both of their hands and hit them with a puppy-eyed look as she tugged them towards her room, and as he and Gabriel lay on either side of Mia in her Queen-sized bed. The little girl was all smiles as Gabriel wove a fantastical story, using only one hand to wave enthusiastically since Mia still held the other in her grasp. Even Sam chuckled a few times, blushing slightly when Gabriel winked at him. He definitely wasn't used to being the pursued party.

Sure, Jess had made the first move, but Sam had initiated everything before that. This, though, was completely different. It was...nice, to not have to worry about impressing someone. Apparently, Gabriel found him impressive as he was.

Gabriel's snort from across the now-sleeping teen reminded Sam quickly that the archangel could read his mind. The blush returned ten-fold. "That's not what I meant!"

Gabriel laughed. "I'm sure you'll be plenty impressive, Sambo."

Sam gently retrieved his hand from Mia and covered his face with both hands. "I hate you."

A weight on his lap, coupled with hands on his wrists that tugged lightly, prompted him to move his hands away from his face. Gabriel was sitting there, a smirk on his face and an eyebrow quirked high. "You _wish_ you could hate me. I'm too awesome to be hated."

When Sam's expression sank into his "FBI-face", Gabriel turned serious. "I know I've done a lot of bad things to you and your brother, Sam. And I know that saying I was doing it all for you guys is probably not the best way to make my case, but this time around, it really was for you. I wish I could have changed the Mystery Spot. I just wasn't sure how much I _could_ change."

Sam sighed and lowered his hands to Gabriel's thighs where the archangel was straddling him. "Can we talk about this somewhere else? I don't want to wake Mia."

Nodding, Gabriel raised his hand and snapped. Sam blinked and realized that they were now in the other bedroom. Gabriel, of course, hadn't moved from Sam's lap. "I don't... I don't hate you, Gabriel. But Mystery Spot is still a really bad memory for me. You _killed_ my brother. Repeatedly. For months. I have PTSD attacks when Asia comes on. Looking back, I can see how you thought it was the right thing to do, but you could have gone about it so much better."

Gabriel looked stricken. "I'm sorry, Sam. Reliving it, actually paying attention to how much you were hurting when I... when I let Dean stay dead for so long, I get it now. I was a total moron about it, and I wish I could take it back. Before, I just wanted to string you along, lead you on a merry chase. I wasn't watching how much it was killing you." Tears started to well in the angel's eyes, but he blinked them back. "I could take away the worst of the pain, if you want. Or the panic attacks. I just... I want to try to make it up to you."

Sam closed his eyes for a few seconds before looking back up at the angel. "You said...you said you died for us, right?"

Gabriel nodded. "Lucifer was after you. Trying to get you to say yes to him so he could possess you. I was the distraction. I told you guys that it was Kali I wanted safe, but really it was...it was you. After you guys left Broward county, I started watching closer. After Luci got out of the cage, I just wanted it to be over. I couldn't take another showdown with Michael and Lucifer, so I put the two of you in a parallel universe. Wanted you guys to _play your parts_. Cas showed up, so I put him somewhere to keep him occupied. Dean figured out it was me, and you guys trapped me in holy oil to escape the illusion. He said something that made me realize I was just running away again. So when the two of you got trapped by the pagans in a hotel, Lucifer on his way, I finally stepped up."

He smiled sadly.

"All it took was dying to get Dad to pay attention to me. I almost didn't think Lucifer would actually do it. He was my favorite big brother, you know. He was always so patient with me, never got mad when I played pranks on him. Hell, he was the one who taught me most of them. He had the brightest wings of all the Host. The brightest Grace. But he burned the coldest of all of us. Even Cassie, the baby angel that he was, was warmer than Luci."

Sam's hand came up to rest on Gabriel's back. "I think... I think that means you've already started making it up to us. You did something that seemed impossible, and came out on the other side. You're practically a Winchester."

Gabriel snorted. "According to Mia's paperwork, I _am_ a Winchester."

"We have to get you some plaid, though. I think you have the daddy-issues and emotional baggage to fit in."

"Maybe I could just wear one of yours? Preferably after you ravage me. Well, actually, I would be the one doing the ravishing."

Sam snorted. "Please. I'm like a foot taller than you."

Gabriel sat back and raised a brow. "And what, my dear Moose, does that have to do with anything?"

Blushing, the hunter stumbled through a reply. "It's just - I thought...wouldn't that be too awkward? It'd be easier the other way."

Ducking down close to Sam's ear, the archangel spoke with a lustful tone and said, "I can lift and support you with one hand while I fuck you in midair. Literally. Flying. I think you would take well to being a bottom."

When Sam didn't reply, Gabriel sat back again and looked at him. The hunter's face was flushed and his pupils dilated slightly. He was breathing heavier than he had been a minute ago, and his fingers were tightening convulsively on Gabriel's legs. The angel wanted to tease him further, to see how much he could take before the other man snapped, but Gabriel remembered Sam's hesitancy earlier, his request to take things slow. With a soft groan, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against Sam's.

For long minutes, they sat like that. Finally, Sam shifted underneath him. Gabriel simply dropped his head to Sam's shoulder and said, "No. I'm not moving."

Through his laughter, Sam said, "Well at least mojo me some pajamas. I want to go to sleep."

Almost before his words were out of his mouth, Gabriel had snapped and clothed them both in comfortable pj's. Sam sighed in relief at being out of his jeans and scooted further down in the bed, taking his archangelic monkey with him. "I'm going to assume that, since there's only one bed, we're going to be sharing while we're here."

"Don't have to sleep. Bed's yours. I'll do... Trickster things while you sleep."

The hunter part of Sam balked at Gabriel's words, but he said nothing. It wasn't his place to try and change the Trickster's ways. Not yet, anyways. Instead, he rolled to the side to deposit an already-sleeping Gabriel beside him. Sam shook his head with a smile and pulled the duvet from the bottom of the bed - since they were laying on the rest of the covers - and covered the both of them before rolling over and settling in to sleep - forgetting all about his earlier worry over sharing a bed.

Just as he drifted off, he felt a hand reach across him and settle on his chest. Smiling sleepily, he brought his own to grasp at it.

**##########**

The next morning, Sam awoke to two people staring at him. Gabriel and Mia were kneeling at the edge of the bed and staring intently at the hunter, who groaned and rolled over. "Stop doing the Cas thing. It's so weird."

Gabriel laughed and said to Mia, "I told you we could wake him up just by staring at him!"

The two laughed together as Sam tried to pull the covers back over his head. Gabriel was having none of it. "Nope! Up and at 'em, Sammykins! I made breakfast!"

Sam snorted. "You cooked?"

"Of course not. But there's still food, so get up. Mia's getting lonely."

"Are you sure she's not just tired of dealing with you?" Sam asked cheekily.

A weight suddenly appeared on Sam's pelvis even as the blankets covering him disappeared. Bright lights were aimed at his face, blurring out his surroundings. Gabriel's fingers quickly went to work on Sam's sides, tickling mercilessly. Sam threw back his head in laughter, but he retaliated with his own tickling directed at Gabriel's sides. The archangel let out peals of laughter as his fingers froze, leaving him helpless to the hunter's attack.

His saving grace came in the form of Mia. The little girl jumped onto the bed and launched herself at Sam, starting her own tickle war and giving Gabriel time to get away. Instead, Gabriel split his next attack as he yelled, "Free for all!"

Mia screeched and laughed. Sam grunted when her knee collided with his kidney, but kept smiling when he saw how much fun she was having.

Before too long, the three of them were splayed out on the bed in a breathless heap, Mia snuggled between them with their clasped hands - a remnant of their last-ditch effort to stop questing fingertips - resting on the girl's abdomen. Her own hands covered theirs and she hummed happily. They lay in peace for a good while before finally lumbering from the bed and making their way to the kitchen.

Gabriel absentmindedly snapped to rewarm their food and sat down on one side of the small table. Sam took in the small breakfast nook, the way the sun shined bright and cheery through the bay window, and felt a warmth he hadn't truly felt in years. It felt like _home._

With a dopey smile on his face, he sat across from Gabriel, leaving Mia to sit caddy-corner to them. As they piled their plates with food, Sam found himself revisiting the idea of a relationship with the archangel. While he wasn't over Ruby's betrayal or her death - seriously? It hadn't even been a full day! - he could see himself waking up the this every morning. A snarky archangel and their unexpected shared charge. Sam shook his head and turned his attention to the plate. He could revisit this discovery later.

Later turned out to be a lot later than he thought. After breakfast, the three of them winged it back to the motel to meet with Bobby and Dean. They didn't expect a third person, but it was a pleasant surprise for once.

Cas sat on the edge of Dean's bed, looking haggard but whole. Dean was kneeling beside him, a hand on the angel's knee and speaking quietly. Castiel looked up and met Gabriel's eyes, but quickly glanced away. Bobby rolled his eyes and made for the door, sensing a personal moment coming on and wanting no part of it.

Gabriel moved forward and laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Cassie, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried to ask you to do something you couldn't do. Or _not_ do, actually. But I'm glad you're okay. Guess Pops really does care sometimes, huh?"

Castiel glanced up once again, a tremulous smile on his face. There were bags under his eyes, and he looked pale beneath his tan and the scruff of his beard. Gabriel felt his heart twist at the sight. His baby brother, killed by Raphael for doing the right thing. Gabe sent up a quick prayer of thanks to their father for bringing him back before letting a smirk cross his face. He reached up and ruffled the little angel's hair, sending healing Grace into him as he did so. Within seconds, Cas looked almost normal. Dean smiled when the angel turned wide eyes to his hunter.

"Feel better?" Dean asked quietly.

Castiel nodded, sending a wave of thanks toward his brother.

Sam felt Mia tug on his shirt and looked down at her worried face. "That's Cas, Mia. He's Gabriel's brother. He got hurt helping us, so we're really glad he's okay."

The teen nodded and stepped forward hesitantly. Gabriel's hand came to rest on her back as she stopped beside him. She glanced up at him and tilted her head, then smiled when he nodded to her. Castiel looked at her warily, his eyes widening as her arms came around his neck. Sam's lips tugged into a smile as the angel's hand patted her back awkwardly. After a moment, Mia released Cas and returned to her spot beside Sam. She looked around at the men gathered in the dingy little motel room and smiled widely before uttering the first word any of them had heard her speak.

"Family."

Sam would be lying if he said he didn't get a little bit emotional at that. (Gabriel would snort and point out that he distinctly saw tears in the hunter's eyes.) The truth was, though, all of them felt that word echo in their cores, reminding them that they _were_ family, no matter what had come before them or what would happen later on. They had beaten the odds of the apocalypse, had beaten Death multiple times over, had smacked Fate in her fickle face.

These four men - hunters and their angels - had grown stronger because of their trials and tribulations.

It was at this moment that Sam looked at Gabriel and felt hope. Gabriel felt the same spark in his chest as he felt Sam's gaze on him. For the first time since he broached the subject with Sam, he felt like maybe he actually had a chance at happiness.

Bobby walked back into the room with brown paper sack under one arm and a plastic bag in the other. When everyone turned to stare at him, he growled, "There's more in the car. Go make yourselves useful." Dean grinned and made for the door, ruffling Mia's hair as he went by. Sam shook his head and followed his brother out the door.

Castiel looked up at Gabriel. "Michael and Raphael will be angry."

Gabriel snorted. "Mikey and Raph can suck it. I officially claim the Winchester family - and Bobby - under my protection. I'll add to the Enochian on their ribs and show you guys some new wards to put up."

Bobby glared when the archangel moved towards him with a hand outstretched toward his chest. "I don't think so, feathers. I don't want any of that angel mumbo-jumbo on my bones."

"It'll keep the other angels from finding you. And potentially killing you as leverage against the boys," Gabriel said as he advanced.

Bobby sighed. "You ain't gonna take no for an answer, are you?"

"Nope." Gabriel's grin was all Trickster. "Now, this is going to hurt. Sorry in advance."

Bobby sucked in a breath as Gabriel's hand landed on his cloth-covered sternum and sent Grace through his chest. The sigils burning onto his ribs didn't hurt as bad as he had thought it might, but it still was far from comfortable. Just as the angel was pulling his hand back from the older hunter's chest, Sam and Dean returned. Gabriel turned and wiggled his fingers. "Just in time! Who wants to go first?"

Bobby swore at the angel and grabbed a beer from the paper sack he had brought in. Sam raised a brow at the archangel and stepped closer. "First for what?"

"New sigils on your ribs. Kind of an upgrade from what Cassie did." Again, Gabriel wiggled his fingers. Sam sighed and dropped the bags he had carried inside onto the table and stepped forward. Gabriel pulled him close and laid his hand on Sam's sternum, having to reach much further than with Bobby. He hesitated, but at Sam's nod sent his Grace through the hunter.

Sam grunted as he felt Gabriel's Grace burn through his ribs, healing Castiel's sigils and marking new ones. As the burn faded from his chest, he brought his hand up to rest against the angel's smaller hand for a moment. Gabriel's gaze shot to meet his and Sam felt like he finally understood the awkward staring contests between Dean and Cas. The rest of the world faded away as Sam stared into those honey-colored eyes and saw a glimpse of the being housed inside.

Older than the Earth, more powerful than any being he had ever encountered, and staring at him like Sam had hung the moon. The hunter felt humbled by the look on Gabriel's face. How could a demon-blood-tainted, devout sinner, and plain human ever deserve that look from this angel?

Gabriel caught the thoughts floating in Sam's head and took a moment to freeze everything around them before taking a step up onto the air to bring his face level to Sam's. He gently removed his hand from under the large paw holding it captive and framed the tall idiot's face with both hands. "Sam, you deserve so much more than me. I'm a coward and a liar and a killer. You have the brightest soul I have ever seen and you do everything you can to make the world a safer place for the idiot mortals that walk it. Don't you ever doubt that you deserve to be happy. You've earned it many times over."

Sam looked awestruck, but he still felt the vestiges of doubt lingering. Gabriel leaned forward to press his lips lightly against the hunter's for a beat before leaning back and winking at him. "Besides, Daddy dearest gave us His blessing."

While Sam was still puzzling over that, Gabriel dropped back down to the floor and unfroze everyone. "Next! Get your ass over here, Dean-o!"

Dean grumbled as he put his share of the bags beside Sam's and stepped up the short angel. "Get this over with, Shortstack."

Gabriel quirked a brow and pressed his hand to Dean's chest, the flash of Grace burning through him quickly. Dean blew out a labored breath after the archangel had drawn his hand away and stepped to his brother.

Castiel looked up at his older brother, his trust and faith and love plain on his face. "Thank you for doing what you can to protect them, Gabriel."

Gabriel huffed a laugh as he inlaid the sigils on his baby brother's (vessel's) bones. "I protect what's mine, Cassie. You lot are family. Get used to it."

As she watched the shorter of her guardians go around the room and use his power on her new family, Mia felt a niggling seed of fear in her heart. The trust that everyone showed him helped to combat that fear. When Gabriel finally stood in front of her, Mia met his gaze unflinchingly.

"Okay, Mia, I'm going to make some marks on your ribs that make it to where no other angels can find you. It might sting a little, but I'll keep it from hurting much," Gabriel said as he raised a hand toward her.

The newest Winchester stepped forward until that hand rested against her chest and nodded at Gabriel. Almost too quiet to hear, she whispered, "Okay."

Gabriel smiled even as he poured his Grace into the brave little girl. True to his word, she didn't even flinch as the marks burned themselves into her bones. When they were finished, Gabriel stepped back and ruffled her hair. "Winchester to the core, kid."

"Hey," Dean asked suddenly, "why didn't you make ours not hurt?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "You're a grown man, Dean. I figured you'd been through worse than that on a bad day hunting, anyways."

When Dean just scowled, Sam snorted. "He has a point, Dean. The Wendigo comes to mind."

"Whatever, man. Can we eat now? I'm starving," the oldest Winchester said as he strode to the table and flung himself into a chair. Across the room, Bobby grunted and muttered about ungrateful kids. "Thanks for the grub, Bobby."

"Uh huh. Next time, you can buy it. My wallet ain't exactly an endless well of funds."

"I'll go hustle some pool later," Dean mumbled around a mouth full of food.

"Speaking of money, Gabriel. We need to get Mia some new clothes. We can take her while Dean and Bobby eat."

Mia smiled and jumped up and down at the mention of new clothes. Gabriel laughed and caved, stretching out his hands for them to grasp. "Fine, fine. Let's go, munchkin."

Sam and Mia each took a hand and closed their eyes at the dizzying sensation of flying Angel Air. Mia's high-pitched squeal half a second after they landed prompted Sam to glance around. Gabriel had brought them to a mall. With a teenager. With a teenage girl. "Gabe, we are never going to leave."

Gabriel smiled at the nickname even as he agreed silently to Sam's prediction. Mia had already taken off toward a brightly lit, brightly-colored store a few yards away. At the entrance, she turned and waved, beckoning her guardians to hurry. Sam laughed and made his way to her, breath catching - like a _teenager, _he thought mockingly - when Gabriel's hand brushed his. Not allowing himself to think about it too hard, he nudged back and bit his lip when the angel laced their fingers together.

It felt right.

Mia caught sight of their clasped hands and smiled even wider before turning and darting inside the store.

An hour later, Sam and Gabriel were both loaded down with bags from a multitude of stores that their young charge had dragged them to. Sam was smiling at Mia's enthusiasm, but starting to feel the effects of having crisscrossed the mall a handful of times. Gabriel caught sight of his tired face and finally called a halt to their excursion. Mia pouted but dutifully placed her hand on Gabriel's arm. Sam smiled gratefully and, after transferring all of his share of the bags to one hand, rested his free hand on the angel's shoulder.

When they appeared back at their home and Mia had grabbed a few bags from where they now lay on the floor and run to her room, Sam's hand trailed lightly up to curl around the back of Gabriel's neck. The shorter man glanced up at him and stilled. As they stood there, locked in this innocently intimate position, Sam felt the urge to return Gabriel's kiss from earlier.

The only thing holding him back was the memory of Ruby, though it was bothering him less and less. Yes, he thought they had loved each other, that she had changed her ways for him. In the end, though, she was just another monster. One that had been put down before she could manipulate him into dooming the world.

Instead of pressing his lips to the angel's, Sam lightly kissed Gabriel's forehead and brought his free hand up to wrap around his back. Gabriel's arms went around Sam's waist and held on loosely. They stood there in a gentle embrace for a while, until Mia came bouncing out of her room for more bags. Instead of jumping apart guiltily, they slowly untangled themselves and moved to help with the bags.

Before long, Mia's things were put away and the three of them were ready to return to the rest of their small family. Gabriel bent time a bit so that they returned only twenty minutes after they had left. The other three were still eating, so Gabriel plopped down onto a bed and closed his eyes. Sam shrugged and did the same on the other bed, intending to take a short nap to recover from their shopping excursion. A bit of teleportation later, Gabriel was beside Sam and using the tall hunter as a pillow.

Dean refused to look their way, and Bobby just rolled his eyes and carried on eating. Within minutes, Sam was asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

When he woke, the room was empty. Looking around, he was hard pressed not to laugh at what seemed to be Gabriel's best impression of an octopus. Sometime during their nap, Mia had decided to sleep as well. She was curled up on her side almost a foot from Sam, as if she wanted to be close to them but was afraid to. With the hand closest to her, Sam reached up - a bit awkwardly, honestly - and tousled her hair. The teen murmured and absently batted his hand away. Sam smiled and turned his attention once more to the bit of archangelic glue stuck to him.

Glad that his brother wasn't around to mock him, Sam let his head dip down to rest against Gabriel's. His hair smelled like that earthy scent that lingered after a storm. Sam smiled and breathed it in as he wrapped his arm around the _diminutive-in-size (but not in personality)_ man.

A few minutes later, the door opened somewhat quietly and three sets of boots clomped in. Well, two sets of boots and a pair of dress shoes. Before Sam could move, a heavy bag landed on his legs, jolting Gabriel and Mia both from their sleep.

Dean smirked and said cheerily, "Up and at 'em, you lazy asses. We have a case."

Gabriel groaned and rolled back into Sam as he pulled a pillow over his head. "No."

Sam snorted and rolled over, landing on top of the angel for a second before finishing the maneuver and rising to his feet. The hunter tried to ignore the bright flare of warmth low in his belly at the momentary intimacy.

Gabriel huffed and snapped his fingers, summoning a blanket to replace the human heater he had just lost.

The hunters moved about with efficiency, packing weapons and clothes and other supplies in minutes. Cas stood next to the door, obviously aware of how little time it took them to get ready. With everything packed and ready to leave, Sam turned to look at the bed he desperately wished he could return to for a few more hours of sleep. Mia was sitting up and staring at him with wide eyes, but smiled when she saw that his attention was on her. Gabriel was still huddled under his blanket and hadn't budged an inch.

Smirking, Sam winked at Mia and handed his bag to Cas with a hand motion asking for just a minute. With quiet movements, he crept to the bed and positioned himself behind the archangel. In one fell swoop, the angel was thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and the two were headed out the door. Gabriel yelped as he was dragged from the bed, but quickly caught on to his attacker. When Mia's shouts of laughter reached him, he simply accepted the undignified transportation and reached down to gently pat Sam's ass.

And then pinched it.

Sam yelped and jumped, jostling Gabriel and nearly dropping him. A few steps later, he let the angel down beside the car and stepped away to look down at him with a grin. Gabriel felt an answering grin tug at his lips. Before they could get sucked into their own world where only they existed, the others joined them. After loading their things into Sam's car, the three-piece psuedo-family finally asked where they were headed.

Dean, loading his own things into his car, grunted, "First, we're taking Bobby home. With the apocalypse canceled, a lot of demons are probably gonna be looking for fun. He's gonna keep an eye on things. Then, we're heading out to Kentucky. There's a tourist attraction that's had twelve disappearances in the last year. Every month on the same day."

Sam was immediately intrigued. "Disappearances? Could it be a djinn?"

Dean gave a short laugh at Sam's enthusiasm. "Let's just get there first before you start trying to figure out what it is, okay Sammy?"

"Whatever, dude. Let's just get going. Gabe and I will head that way and you guys can meet us once you get Bobby home."

"You're taking Mia on a hunt?" Dean asked incredulously.

"No. We're taking her with us to the motel, but I'm not making her hunt with us. I hated that Dad made us - that he never gave us a choice," Sam said softly.

Dean sighed. "Yeah, I know. But, Sammy, she does need to know how to defend herself."

"And we'll teach her. But I'm not forcing her into the life. I'm not going to give her a .45 if she says she's afraid of the dark."

Gabriel and Castiel watched the two brothers argue. Mia slipped her hand into Gabriel's and worried her lip with her teeth. When Gabriel saw her expression, he decided to intervene.

"Not to step on anyone's toes, but she's half my responsibility, too. And I say that it's her choice. And everyone will respect that choice, capice?" When the others nodded, the archangel gently squeezed Mia's hand and smiled down at her. "There. Easy-peasy."

Mia rolled her eyes with a grin, but Gabe felt the relief rolling off of her in waves.

Soon after that, the three-part family unit clambered into Sam's car and began the trek to the newest case. Without Dean to argue about driving on the interstate instead of back roads, Sam figured they could make the trip to Mammoth Cave National Park in less than ten hours, instead of over twelve. Looking forward to getting a headstart on the case, Sam pulled out of the motel and followed signs to I-66. They made the transition to I-81 some time later and drove until they hit Lexington. Gabriel demanded they stop for a snack, ignoring the fact that he could summon anything he wanted.

"It doesn't taste the same, Sammy. And besides, you humans can go do human things while I decide what I want." Without waiting for a reply, Gabriel set about his browsing. Mia stepped quickly to the restrooms, making Sam think that maybe that was the whole point of this stop. After a quick visit to the restroom himself, Sam wandered to Gabriel's side and watched him debate between two candy bars.

"Get both," he spoke up.

"I'm watching my girlish figure, Sam. Once you start having kids, your figure goes to shit," the angel said with all seriousness. Until he glanced at Sam and grinned. Sam shook his head and reached out to grab the candy bar in Gabe's left hand.

"A Whatchamacallit? I haven't seen these in years."

"The Thingamajigs are better. I can never find those, though."

Sam made a noise of agreement and tilted his head. "What's the other choice?"

Gabriel held out the other candy bar and went back to studying the shelves.

"Carmello. I'm not a huge fan of caramel. Too sticky," Sam confided.

Gabriel snorted. "Sometimes sticky can be fun."

Sam blushed and coughed.

"Gross." The complaint came from behind them. They both turned to see Mia making a face at them. Sam blushed even harder and ran a hand over his face.

"That was so not what it sounded like."

Behind him, Gabriel was bent over laughing.

"You're not helping!" Sam said, aiming his best bitchface at the angel.

Gabriel finally stopped laughing, but the disgust on Mia's face threatened to send him into laughing fits again. Holding back giggles, he choked out, "He's telling the truth, Mia. We were talking about candy."

The teen eyed the candy bar Sam helpfully held up and then studied his puppy-eyed sincere expression. In true teen fashion, she snorted and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Can we go?"

Sam smiled at her words, thankful that she felt comfortable enough around them to actually talk. "Yeah, kid. Grab a snack and we'll pay and get going."

Ten minutes later, they were back on the interstate, heading West. As they drove through Covington, Gabriel saw signs for hot springs and made a suggestive face at Sam. The hunter snorted and kept driving, ignoring the heat curling in his belly and the images that flashed through his mind at what fun they could get up to in hot springs.

From Gabriel's strangled noise beside him, the angel had seen the images. Sam grinned and raised his brow at the shorter man. For hours they drove, only stopping for bathroom breaks and once because Gabriel demanded they stop at a mall. They spent an hour there, walking out with nearly as many bags as when they had taken Mia shopping. Gabriel magicked them back to his home and they continued their trek.

The trio finally reached the park in the early morning. They drove through the dense woods, Gabriel sighing as the wonder of untouched creation reached him. There were few places, especially in the United States, that were free of man's need to expand. Those places held a special meaning for angels. It was in these places that they felt God's presence the most while on earth.

Gabriel had avoided such places since he had run away. He hadn't wanted to feel his Father's presence in such a counterfeit way. It was a pale imitation to having Him close by, like when Gabriel had been young. After He had left, things had gone downhill fast.

The archangel was saved from his melancholy thoughts by the sudden appearance of a hotel. It was one story, but looked like a decently-sized place regardless. Sam pulled into an empty space in the small parking lot – shared by only two other vehicles – and turned the car off. The tall human groaned as he exited the car and stretched.

Gabriel gazed appreciatively at the hunter's muscular form for a moment before turning to the backseat where Mia had fallen asleep hours ago. Unwilling to wake her, he snapped and transported her to his arms to carry her in.

Sam held back a laugh at seeing Gabriel carry the teen, who was nearly as tall as the angel himself. "Gabe, let me get her and you can sign us in." When the angel quirked a brow, Sam continued. "And you can pinch my ass again."

Gabriel grinned. "Sold!" he crowed as he gently handed the sleeping girl over. As Sam stood there, Gabe opened the trunk and pulled out Sam's duffle, as well as a smaller one they had gotten for Mia at the impromptu mall stop on the way. They made their way into the hotel where there was a single attendant on duty at the front desk.

Asleep.

Which was understandable, considering that it was nearly four in the morning, local time.

When ringing the small bell on the desk did nothing, Gabriel leaned over as far as he could – which Sam studiously ignored, no matter how attractive Gabriel's ass looked with his jeans pulled tight over the flesh – and bellowed, "Wake up!"

The attendant jumped and fell from his chair. Mia started, but merely turned her head toward Sam and murmured as she went back to sleep.

When the attendant - whose name was apparently Mark, if his nametag was to be believed - stood and looked up, he realized there were people in front of him. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Can I get you folks a room?"

"We'd like either one room with two beds or two rooms with one bed each, please," Sam said politely.

"Oh, we can do either! This isn't a popular time to go hiking, so we're pretty slow at the moment. We actually have a suite available, if you'd like that. It's got three bedrooms and a common room. It even has its own little kitchen area!"

Gabriel chuckled at the kid's enthusiasm. "Sounds great. We'll take that one."

When Mark named a price, Gabriel handed over a credit card. Minutes later, they were being led to their home for however long it took to finish the case. Once they had Mia settled in her bedroom, the two men wandered to the living room and collapsed onto whatever furniture was closest. Sam ended up with half a lap-full of angel, but couldn't bring himself to care. The human reached lazily to the side table and grabbed an apple from the fruit basket left there by the staff. He bit into it and made a noise of appreciation at the taste.

"Remind me to never travel the human way again. I can't believe that sitting on my ass all day could be so exhausting," Gabriel complained as he tried to get comfortable.

Sam grunted as Gabriel's hand pressed painfully into his stomach. He set the delicious apple aside and grabbed the angel, manhandling him until they were lying sideways on the couch, Gabriel's back pressed to the human's chest. "Does this," Sam began, squeezing Gabriel a little closer, "mean I get to travel Angel Air whenever I want?"

Gabriel snorted. "I'm not a transport service."

Leaning down, Sam nearly whispered his next words in Gabriel's ear. "Even if I pay in... favors?"

Mouth suddenly dry, Gabriel felt arousal begin to flow through him. "What kind of favors are we talking, kiddo?"

Something warm and wet touched Gabriel's ear. Breath puffed from Sam's lips and over the spot, sending shivers down the angel's spine. "We could start slow, maybe with a kiss?"

"What's gotten into you, Sam? Yesterday you wanted to take things slow, now you're taking charge and propositioning me. What changed?"

The hand on Gabriel's abdomen slid dangerously lower. "Maybe I just don't want to resist anymore."

Gabriel felt a spark of unease. This was totally out of character for the moose. The angel turned slowly in Sam's arms and was taken aback by the naked hunger in his hazel eyes. "Sam, this isn't you. We agreed to take things slow and- mphh!"

Gabriel's words were cut off by Sam's lips capturing his in a passionate kiss. Their first real kiss in years, ever since that night in the library when they thought they had killed the Trickster. Gabriel groaned as Sam's large hand slid down his back to grasp at his ass, squeezing and using the hold to yank the smaller man closer. With his suddenly-awake dick threatening to override his brain, the angel teleported himself away from his walking temptation.

Sam, disgruntled at the object of his lust suddenly being three feet away, stood slowly, stretching languidly to his full height like a predator. The look in his eyes had gone from lustful to feral. Gabriel, thinking quickly, backed up to the doorway of one of the empty rooms and smiled coyly at the human. "Come and get me, Sammy."

When Sam lunged forward to grasp the angel, the illusion dissolved as the double doors banged shut behind him. Sam whirled around and pounded on the door, bellowing at Gabriel to come back.

Gabriel sighed and ran his hands through his hair as he soundproofed Sam's temporary prison._"Well, looks like I'll be researching this one myself," _he thought as he willed his erection to go away. He stepped back into the living room and snapped to summon any information he could about the past year of disappearances. With it all spread out on the ornate glass table, Gabriel sat and got to work.

Two hours later, Sam had finally stopped banging on the door, settling for only yelling out for Gabriel every once in a while, however luridly. The angel was deep in research, trying to find some kind of pattern or clue as to what they were after.

After searching for and finding nothing linking the previous victims, he turned his attention to Sam's odd behavior. After going over and over their actions since entering the hotel, Gabriel smacked himself in the forehead and looked over to the side table. The half-eaten apple still sat there, still as pale and crisp as if it had been sitting there mere seconds instead of nearly three hours.

That just wasn't right. Any natural apple would have browned by now, after being exposed to the air for so long. Gabriel reached out and picked it up, nearly dropping it again as he felt the stirrings of lust in his belly. Forcing his immediate reaction down, the angel studied the fruit with his eyes and with his power – both angelic and pagan.

What he found was not comforting. With a beleaguered sigh, he waved a hand and pulled a cell phone from the air. Seconds later, he was calling Dean.

"Yo, Dean-o! We _might _have a slight problem."


	8. Chapter 8

As soon as Dean and Cas had dropped Bobby off at his home, the newly-recreated seraph had mojo'd them to the hotel. Dean had granted his permission to let Cas mojo Baby _just this once_. The three men stood around the living room, staring at the apple Sam had bitten from.

The inconspicuous fruit held traces of Pagan magic, stuff that was both potent and familiar. Cas refused to let Dean touch it.

Dean was furious that Gabriel had locked Sam in his room, but when the archangel took the sound-proofing off the walls and let Dean hear the desperate wailing of Sam begging for Gabriel to fuck him raw, the older hunter turned white and said no more.

"You still have not explained why this is such a problematic case, Gabriel," Castiel said patiently.

Gabriel sighed. "It's my cousin. Well, adopted cousin. Freyr. He's got quite a few duties as a god, but the main one is fertility. Of both man and earth. I think his magic has tainted the food here and that's what infected Sam."

Dean groaned. "Please tell me we can fix him without...that," he said with a vague wave toward Sam's room.

Rolling his eyes, Gabriel scoffed. "Like you're one to talk. I've heard you and Cas. You've corrupted my sweet, innocent little brother, Winchester. But yeah, there's another way. If we kill Freyr – or at least put him on ice – his magic will dissipate."

"So how do we go about that?" Dean asked.

"Well we need this neat sword that used to be his. And which is currently in the possession of one former page-boy named Skírnir. But that's to kill him. To put him on ice, we just need to bind him with ropes soaked in boar's blood."

"I'm assuming the ropes'll be the easy way?"

"He's a powerful pagan deity. Nothing about this is going to be easy. Especially once he realizes _I'm_ here. He still thinks I hit on his wife. And let me tell you, he has a possessive streak a mile wide," Gabriel informed them.

"_Did_ you hit on his wife?"

Gabriel scoffed. "Of course not, Dean-o. _She_ looked more like a _he_, and back then I was still pretty picky about my bed partners. Anyways, we need to get a move on. From what I remember, Freyr doesn't actually need sacrifices. Not of the deadly kind, anyway. I'm pretty sure he liked watching people get it on in his name."

A confused look crossed Dean's face. "So, what? Somebody killing people they don't like and saying it's all for him?"

"I have no clue. That's why we need to find the leader of the local pagan group. The faster we find them, the faster we can get Sam back to normal. So let's get to it. Cas, can you stay here and watch Mia when she wakes up?" Gabriel asked of his youngest brother.

"Very well, brother. I will do my best," Castiel answered.

"It's not hard, Cassie. Just feed her when she's hungry and don't let her get hurt. But mojo some food, don't let her eat the stuff they supply here. Just in case."

Cas nodded. Dean stood and made his way to the seraph. "Stay safe, okay, Cas? We'll be back as soon as we can."

Cas nodded again and slowly reached for the older hunter. Dean huffed a laugh and wrapped his arms around the angel, smiling at the slightly desperate way Cas held onto him even as he held the angel just as tightly.

Gabriel sighed. "I'll be right back." He snapped and appeared in front of Sam. The hunter had shed his jacket and shirt, leaving him in a white tank and his jeans. Sam jumped up and reached for the archangel. Gabriel went willingly, allowing Sam to pull him close and simply hold him for a long moment. When Sam pulled back and kissed him, Gabriel couldn't quite tear himself away.

As the lust-infected hunter's hand slid to Gabriel's belt, the angel finally pulled back and stilled the hunter with strong hands holding his wrists. "I'm taking Dean to search for whoever killed all those people. Cas and Mia are here. We'll be back soon."

"Please don't go. Gabe, I need you."

"I'm sorry, Sam. I have to go. I'll be back in a few hours," Gabriel said softly, his thumbs gently stroking the inside of Sam's captive wrists. With one last kiss on Sam's rather eager lips, Gabriel disappeared.

When he reappeared in the living room, Dean was waiting by the door. Cas was nowhere to be seen, but Gabriel didn't question it.

"Let's get a move on."

The two older brothers set out to find their quarry, deciding to search through the hotel itself first. Along the way, Gabriel gave Dean an insight into what they may be facing.

"These guys probably do their rituals in the caves. The natural rock formations have better resonance than any man-made structures could. Especially for calling on a god whose focus is on the earth. Typically, there are at least two or three worshipers, but not usually more than ten. Depends on which deity they're invoking for what time of day or which part of the lunar cycle."

"So we stake it out until we catch them? That could be weeks!" Dean complained. "The victims have all died on the same day of the month, and that's three weeks away."

"Actually, they _went missing_ on the same day. They're not necessarily dead. Yet, anyways. Like I said – Freyr got off on watching people screwing in his name, so they may just be holed up somewhere. Probably under a lust spell."

"For a year? Any chance they're still alive?" Dean asked somberly.

"Depends on if they've been keeping them fed and hydrated. If so, then we have a shot at finding everybody alive and well and really fucked out. If not, we'll probably find corpses of the beast with two backs."

Dean grimaced. "That's just gross."

Gabriel agreed, but kept silent. He didn't have much room to talk since he had been the recipient of several such sacrifices over the years as Loki. Speaking of...

"Freyr doesn't know about me, by the way," Gabriel said quietly as he jimmied a lock and peered inside the empty room.

"What about you?"

"That I'm an angel. Since we stopped the apocalypse, the other gods still think I'm Loki. Which suits me just fine, so let's keep it that way."

Dean snorted. "Whatever, dude. Let's just ice this son of a bitch and get Sammy back to normal."

"Agreed. Here, let's look in the caverns. Obviously this place has nothing to go on." Gabriel grabbed Dean's sleeve and was gone before the hunter could protest. Instead of using his wings, he made use of his Trickster magic to teleport them underground. He wasn't going to chance being found out because of a thoughtless use of angelic power when Trickster magic could do just as well.

Dean looked around the large underground cavern. Besides the fact that it was probably being used to pay deadly homage to a Pagan deity, it was really beautiful. The cavern that Gabriel had brought them to was humongous.

The floor was sandy, crunching underfoot with every step. The hollow space echoed loudly, and Dean could faintly hear the squeaking of bats somewhere overhead. Water flowing slowly to their left made a peaceful background noise.

Gabriel looked around with an eye less on the physical surroundings and more on the minute traces of pagan power. When he felt he had a good grasp on the direction, he made his way toward the strongest sensation. Dean followed, a question on his face but thankfully not leaving his lips.

When they finally stopped walking almost twenty minutes later – after crossing two small streams and climbing down into a rather small hole in the ground that led to another cavern – Dean shook his head.

"Well, it doesn't look like either of us were right," he said sadly.

Around them were twelve bodies in various stages of decomposition and decay. Gabriel looked confused. "They shouldn't be dead. Freyr doesn't ask for human life as a sacrifice. The closest I've ever heard of is a few drops of blood from a willing donor. What the hell is going on here?"

Suddenly, footsteps began to echo behind them. Gabriel quickly jerked Dean to his side and held a finger to his lips as he hid them from view, tucked away behind a large rock formation.

Moments later, four people entered the chamber. Two of them were dragging a third, while the last was holding a leather-bound book and moving to the center of the cave, a satchel over one shoulder. The book man began read from the tome, his voice lilting and strong. The other two settled their burden on his knees between them, smacking his face a few times to wake him up a bit.

Gabriel grimaced when he recognized Mark. The overeager puppy of a man looked to be fighting off whatever drugs the douches holding him had dosed him with, but it didn't seem to be working. His head lolled to the side again and again. Finally, the larger of the two meat-heads beside him grasped his hair tightly to hold his head in place.

As the cadence of the apparent leader's voice began to slow, Gabriel felt the beginnings of apprehension washing over him. When the man drew an athame from his satchel and stepped toward Mark, the archangel sighed silently. His hand tightened its grip on Dean a split second before the blade darted across Mark's throat. Dean jolted and tried to struggle away, but Gabriel stilled him with a thought.

The leader spoke again as he caught Mark's blood, spurting from his neck gruesomely, in a large bowl. "Freyr, our merciful and bountiful lord! Accept this sacrifice that we may have a fruitful harvest and healthy flora and fauna. We offer the blood of our enemies to appease you!"

As the three pagans began to use Mark's blood to draw symbols on the rocks around them, Gabriel transported himself and Dean back to their suite. He plopped into a chair as Dean rounded on him.

"Why didn't you try to stop them?! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"If we had stopped them in the middle of their little ritual, Freyr would have felt the disturbance. He's not stupid; he would have put two and two together and figured out that someone's after him."

"You asshole. So that's it then? All in the name of the greater good? That kid _died_ because you wouldn't let me save him," Dean spat.

Gabriel felt fury strike him. "You think I don't know that?" he asked sharply as he stood. His body began to glow lightly with the force of his anger, sparks almost literally shooting from his eyes. Dean took a step back, suddenly incredibly afraid of the shorter man. "He should have lived to be eighty-six. He should have had four kids, eighteen grandkids, and twenty-four great-grandkids. He should have taken over this joint in twenty years, remade it into a better park with more of a draw."

Gabriel took in a slightly shaky breath. "You know what else I know? If you had tried to stop them, _you_ would be dead right now. Mark would have died anyways, but they would have had two sacrificial lambs instead of one. Despite what you think of me, I take care of my own. The day I claimed Sam as mine, you got lumped into the family, too. So I'm sorry I let that poor kid die so I didn't have to tell the man I love that I let his brother die!"

A door opened behind them. Gabriel was too incensed to bother turning around until he heard, "You love me?"


	9. Chapter 9

The archangel turned so fast that his wings sent papers flying from the gusts. Sam stood in the doorway to their room – his former prison – looking hale and back to normal.

Gabriel felt a split second of panic. The wave of relief crashing through him wiped that out fairly quickly. He smiled easily at Sam and said, "Nice to have you back, Sammoose."

Sam blushed at the reminder of his mindless want from earlier. "Believe me, it's great to be back."

"What happened? Cas heal you or something?" Dean asked.

"No, it just sort of wore off," Sam said. His deepening blush belied that statement.

Quirking a brow, Gabriel spoke to Dean even as he moved toward Sam. "If you'll excuse us, Dean-o, I think Sam and I need to have a talk."

Dean rolled his eyes and went in search of his own angel.

Sam stepped backward for every step forward Gabriel took. When the archangel cleared the double doors, he closed them with barely a thought and kept stalking his human quarry. When Sam hit the bed and sat down hard, Gabriel smirked.

"So, Sammy. It just wore off, huh?"

Sam swallowed hard. "Yep. Pretty much."

"Somehow, I don't believe you. That was some pretty powerful magic running through you. Come on, Sam-I-am. Tell the sexy archangel what broke the spell."

Sam gripped the covers under him hard as Gabriel stepped even closer. Taking the coward's way out, he projected the last hour to the archangel with his thoughts, confident the angel would hear him.

Gabriel's dick went from zero to painfully hard as he watched Sam's memories. His eyes darted to the bedside table, knowing now what was hidden there. "Fuck, Sam. I told you that you'd be a good bottom. Did you like having that toy inside you? Did you imagine it was me fucking you?"

Sam's breath caught in his chest. He had imagined it. Had wanted it with everything in him. Thoughts of Ruby and the talk of waiting had never crossed his mind as he had fucked himself with the dildo he had begged Cas for. The angel had blushed at the description of exactly what Sam wanted and had turned tail as soon as it had appeared on the bed in Sam's room.

Gabriel pressed closer to Sam, forcing the hunter to spread his knees to allow him room. They fell backwards on the bed and lay there for a moment, reveling in the feeling of being pressed together so closely. Gabriel braced himself with his hands on either side of Sam's head and stared down at him.

Sam smiled suddenly. "You love me," he said happily.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Thought that was obvious, kiddo," he snarked. The next moment had their lips pressed tightly together as Sam's arms came around Gabriel tightly. Gabriel relished the moment, learning quickly how much Sam was enjoying this. The hunter held him close, not even trying to deepen the kiss. Gabriel lost himself in the casual intimacy of feeling his lips meet Sam's for a few precious moments before moving away, only to return and start over. They lay there for a long while without ever feeling the urgency to move forward.

It was a completely foreign concept for Gabriel. Had Sam been one of his many conquests, they'd be well on their way to round two by now. With Sam, he was content to just make out with him without even copping a feel.

As for Sam, he was sorting through the conflicting emotions and thoughts swirling in his head. On the one hand, kissing Gabriel felt right in a way that he hadn't felt since Jess. On the other, this being had done so much wrong to the two brothers.

_He did it to try to help you._

Sam grunted at the errant thought. He knew, logically, that Gabriel had been attempting to help. But the hurt and panic he still sometimes felt about Mystery Spot were not something that could be simply dismissed. He and Dean never spoke of it, but anytime Asia – especially Heat of the Moment – came on the radio, it was promptly changed, lest Sam have a full-blown panic attack. He often woke in the middle of the night just to make sure Dean was still breathing – still alive.

A nip to his bottom lip brought Sam back to the present. "I can feel the gears turning in that gigantic head of yours. Stop thinking and just let it go, Sam. Just this once," Gabriel coaxed as he plied the hunter with more soft kisses.

"I'm... mph... trying. And I swear to your Dad that if you start singing that Disney song, I'm leaving," Sam threatened seriously.

Gabriel collapsed on top of Sam, laughing too hard to hold himself up. Sam grinned and took the opportunity to card his fingers through Gabriel's hair. With Gabe still chuckling, Sam sighed and said softly, "I love you, too."

The archangel stilled, not quite believing his ears. Sam kept running his fingers through Gabriel's hair and kept speaking. "I think it started that first day I met you. You were so fucking cute and I couldn't stop smiling every time you smiled at me. I didn't want it to be you – the Trickster, I mean. I was going to ask you out if you had turned out to just be the janitor."

Sam paused and took a deep breath. "Broward County... that hurt. A lot. To be honest, it still does. And when it turned out to be you? Do you know how badly I wanted to kiss you in that first moment when I confronted you? Just seeing you again, it was like everything from the first day Dean died till that moment had disappeared. And then after those six months of Dean really being dead, when you grabbed my hand to take me back? I almost didn't want to let go, even after everything you had put me through."

"Sammy, I'm sorry," Gabriel began. Sam leaned up to stop his words with a soft kiss.

"It's... well, it's not okay, but I understand now. I do have a question, though. Why not just avoid me for a few more months, until Dean's year was up? If he was already dead, wouldn't that have voided the deal?"

"It's not that simple, kiddo. The deal was for his soul, not for his death. And I couldn't avoid you anymore. Even in the first go at this, it was getting to the point where I was feeling guilty over it. I'd never felt that way – not as a Trickster, anyways. This time, I almost didn't go through with it. But like I said before, I wasn't sure how much I could get away with changing." By the end of his spiel, Gabriel had reluctantly moved to lie beside Sam instead of on top of him. The hunter followed him, rolling onto his side to face the angel. He looked completely relaxed, propped up on one elbow with his head in his hand.

"I'm willing to try this thing if you are, Gabe."

For a moment, all Gabriel could think was _draw me like one of your French girls_. When he registered what Sam said, he rolled his eyes. "We've been waiting on you, Sammich. I've been ready to get this thing going since... Well, in this timeline since before I met you." He grinned at Sam's look of disbelief. The tall hunter was just too cute, so Gabriel leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips.

Sam sighed into the kiss, but grunted a few moments later. "Gabe, this isn't comfortable. Either we get into the bed for real, or we go out there and be sociable."

Gabriel snapped and they were settled into the bed with the blankets covering them. He had even changed their clothes. At Sam's challenging look, he raised a brow and said, "Cas and Dean are _indisposed_ and Mia's still asleep. She probably won't be for much longer, so let's get some sleep before she wakes up."

Moments later, the two were cuddled closely, deeply asleep.

**##########**

Hours later, they were woken by the sound of their door opening. Sam blinked blearily and sat up. "Mia, what's wrong?"

"I don't like it here," the teen whispered.

Gabriel sat up, hair wild and sticking out at odd angles. "We can't leave yet, baby girl. Come sleep with us for a few hours, okay? When we all wake up we can get to serious business and get this case finished up."

Mia nodded and crawled onto the foot of the bed, making her way to a spot beside Gabriel. Sam reached over the short angel and laid a hand on the girl's belly in an attempt to comfort her. Her hand came up to clutch at his. Gabriel was taken aback at how scared Mia truly was. He turned onto his side and opened his arms to her. She wasted no time in scooting to her guardian and curling up as much as she could. Sam's hand ended up on her back, fingers tangled with Gabe's and rubbing soothing circles there.

With a bit of Grace, Gabriel gently sent Mia back to sleep. His fingers tightened in Sam's for a moment, wishing he could wing away and take his family to safety. The conscience that Sam had awoken in him cried out at that thought. He knew they couldn't just leave and allow these Pagans to keep killing people.

Sam pressed a gentle kiss to the back of his angel's neck. "Go to sleep, Gabe. We'll figure it out in the morning."

The archangel sighed and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, Sam and Mia were gone. Gabriel jolted out of bed, clothing himself in his usual get-up with barely a thought as he bolted for the door. He threw open the double doors and froze.

Everyone sitting around the table stared at him. The now-flustered angel ran a hand through his hair. "Thank you, Moose, for giving me a heart attack," he snarked, half-serious, as he moved to join the others. While he loaded his plate with food, he asked, "Any leads so far?"

Sam shook his head, but Dean said, "Something's not adding up. So far, it's been every month on the same day. But last night's escapade broke that pattern. What changed?"

Gabriel shrugged and took a bite of his waffles. "I'm not sure. Maybe they're getting a little crazy? It happens sometimes."

"Well, we know how to stop the big guy, we just have to find him. Any ideas, Gabe?" Sam asked.

"We can summon him, but there's no guarantee that he'd show. I could call him as a fellow Pagan, but you guys wouldn't be able to see him unless he wants you to. We can stake out the cavern they've been doing their rituals in, see if he shows during the next one."

"If we do a summoning while you call him Pagan to Pagan, do you think it would have any different effect?" Sam mused.

Gabriel thought for a moment. "It might work, but still no guarantees."

"If we can't see him, how do we bind him with the ropes?" Dean asked.

"I can bind him, I just need you guys to say the incantation to finish the job. It'll be tricky, though. If I'm still touching him when you finish it, I'll be bound as well," the archangel said seriously.

Cas finally spoke. "I will help you hold him, brother. I should be able to see this being as well."

"I can't ask you to do that, Cassie. The same rules apply to you. I won't chance you getting caught by the binding spell."

"I will use my Grace to hold him," the seraph replied.

Gabriel shook his head. "Cas, this guy is too powerful for that. And he draws power from his believers _and_ the earth. Both of which are surrounding us."

"Hey, does that help you guys, too?" Sam asked suddenly. "Being believed in, I mean."

"It doesn't hurt, but we don't get the same kind of power that Freyr does. Well, I kind of do because of Loki's worshipers, but Cas just gets a little power boost." With a blank stare at Cas, he added, "Not enough to take on Freyr with just mojo."

"Gabe, I don't want to chance you getting caught in that spell. There has to be another way," Sam protested.

"Unless you want to trek to Jotunheim – which is a frozen realm, by the way, and inhabited by giants – then this is it, kiddo. I'll be fine; trust me!"

Sam didn't look convinced. Gabriel didn't really blame him, since he was feeling pretty apprehensive about this himself. In an attempt to reassure the both of them, he casually laid a hand on top of Sam's where it rested on the table. Sam immediately turned his hand over and laced their fingers together. Gabriel smiled at the gesture as he took another bite of his waffles.

When the five of them were finished eating, they took to the living room to work out a strategy. Their plan mostly consisted of finding the god, trapping him, and binding him. Great in theory, but when had anything ever gone according to plan with the Winchesters?

"We still have to figure out what to do about the worshipers. Are we gonna kill 'em?" Dean asked.

"I do not think it would be wise to leave them to begin killing again, perhaps in the name of another deity," Castiel said gravely.

"Damn, Cas. Bloodthirsty, much?" Gabriel joked. "I do agree, though. We can't just let them keep killing people. But we can't worry about that until after we bind Freyr."

"And we're still lacking a legitimate plan to actually trap the guy," Dean pointed out.

"Hey, Dean" Sam began with a thoughtful expression, "do you remember that case we worked with Jo? When she ran away to be a hunter?"

Dean grinned. "Yeah, yeah. Stay-puft marshmallow man, right?"

Sam returned the grin, recalling Dean's sassy conjecture on their quarry at the time. When Gabe and Cas looked at them in askance, Sam explained. "There was a ghost abducting girls from an apartment building."

"Hot blonde girls. College types," Dean added.

"Anyways, he took Jo and when we realized we couldn't burn the bones, we ended up trapping his ghost underground in a salt ring."

Gabriel nodded, catching their drift. "Instead of salt, we could use boar's blood. It might work to keep him still long enough to bind him without maybe trapping anybody else. We'll have to leave the circle incomplete until he shows. Cas, you think you can finish it once he's inside?"

Castiel nodded. "I believe I can do that."

Dean shook his head. "Do we actually have a decent plan?"

Sam laughed and chucked a throw pillow at him. "Don't jinx it!"

Mia finally spoke up. "Is this...normal?"

The four men turned to look at the teen, who looked uncomfortable and more shy than she had in days. Sam tried hard not to laugh at her words, but really. What was normal anymore?

"Baby girl, Sam and Dean hunt monsters every day. Cas and me, we're angels from Heaven. Literally. This is about as normal as it gets," Gabriel said softly.

Sam swallowed the hysterical humor and turned to fully face the teen. "Mia, Dean and I have been doing this since we were kids. We didn't have a normal childhood, but then again...I don't think you did, either."

When Mia didn't look reassured, Dean chimed in. "What's normal, anyways? Some apple-pie life in the suburbs, white picket fence and a dog in the backyard? Most people never get that. You take what you have and you make do with it. Make the best of it."

"What I think they are trying to say, Mia, is that this is _our_ normal," Castiel said.

The teen stared at them all for a moment before she finally sighed and turned sideways in her chair to flop her legs over the arm. "Okay."

Gabriel and Sam glanced at one another, both sure that this wasn't the end of that particular conversation. For now, though, they were content to let sleeping dogs lie and focus on the larger problem.

"When do you think they'll make another go, Gabriel?" Sam asked to get them back on track.

"There's no telling, really. Not since they've broken the pattern. We'll just have to keep an eye out for suspicious activity and go from there," the archangel replied.

"I could go and acquire the boar's blood we will need," Cas offered.

"That's a great idea, Cas. I'll go with you," Dean said cheerfully.

Before anyone could protest, the two were gone.

Gabriel blinked before turning to face Mia and Sam. "What do you guys say to a movie?"

"Only if it doesn't suck," Mia snarked back.

Sam laughed at Gabriel's expression of shock. "Well, she definitely takes after you in sarcasm."

Shaking off the surprise, the archangel grinned. "Just you wait, Sammoose. This is after a few days. Wait until she's been with us for a few _years."_

With a put-upon shudder, Sam said, "No horror stories, _please_."

Mia laughed and rolled her eyes at their antics. God help her, she was already looking forward to living with these two massive dorks. After the long line of disappointing foster homes – ones where she was treated like a maid; that one place where the dad tried to hit her; the places that didn't want a kid, only a check every month – this setup was looking like one of the most stable places she'd ever been. And that was saying something.

But she _liked_ it here, she remarked to herself as she glanced over to see Gabriel reaching across Sam to grab at a candy bar. The hunter's long arms put the bar just out of Gabriel's reach, but the angel didn't seem prepared to stop trying. Finally resorting to dirty play, he poked at Sam's ribs and crowed when the hunter instinctively curled inward – bringing the candy within reach.

Maybe they weren't stereotypical or normal. But maybe Cas was right. This was _their_ normal. The teen smiled and turned back to the TV. With little thought to the selection, she picked a movie at random and settled in to watch. Before long, the noisy not-quite-couple quieted as well.

Other than the crackling of Gabriel's candy wrapper.

Within minutes of the first explosion, the archangel's attention was wholly on the movie. For the next hour, they sat in (for the most part) silence. When the credits rolled, the teen turned to look at her guardians and smirked at the sight of them asleep and holding each other up. She reached quietly onto the table and grabbed Sam's phone to snap a quick picture of the two.

Seconds later, Dean and Cas appeared. Covered in blood and hair and things Mia didn't even want to wonder at, they each held a length of rope that was nearly crimson.

Gabriel darted upright and looked around, gaze finally falling on his brother. "Oh. Good. I was starting to get worried about you two."

Dean glared. "Yeah, I could see how worried you were."

Sam yawned and slowly sat up. "Well that can be checked off the list. Now we just have to find the guy."

"I'll go put up wards so we'll know when they go back to that cavern," Gabriel said as he stretched a bit. Sam was a great pillow, but not even he could make sleeping while sitting up a good experience.

"Can I go, too?" Mia asked hesitantly.

Gabriel blinked at her for a moment before he grinned. "Of course you can, brat! Let's go." He held out a hand to the girl and glanced at Sam, taking in the hunter's tight expression and body language. With a brief foray into Sam's head, Gabriel promised, _"I'll keep her safe, Sam. I swear it. And it's her choice, right?"_

Sam sighed and nodded at the angel. Moments later, the two were gone in a flurry of wind. Sam stared at the TV screen, unwilling to acknowledge Dean's questioning expression. He hated the guilt burning in his belly at letting Mia go with Gabe. He had wanted to keep her from this hunt as much as possible – from _any_ hunt, really.

Sam's childhood had been a mess of alcohol-driven madness, cheap motels, and constantly being on the move. He didn't want that that for Mia. She may not be his blood, but like Bobby had been telling them their whole lives, family don't end with blood. Finally, Sam rubbed his hands over his face and told himself to get a grip. This moping wasn't helping anything and besides, Gabriel was right. It had been Mia's choice to go along with the archangel.

With a resolute nod to himself, Sam moved forward in his seat and grabbed papers at random. No harm in looking back over their data so far. He settled back in for a long read, sending a quick prayer to Gabe. _"Thank you, Gabriel. Love you."_


	10. Chapter 10

Back in the cavern of sacrifices, Gabriel hid the worst of the scene from Mia's view as they made their way around the underground area. He gently guided her between the bodies as he spoke in Enochian to lay the wards. His magic had to be light enough to not be detected, but strong enough to work. It was a very fragile balance.

Mia's constant barrage of questions didn't help, though they were definitely welcome as opposed to her silence from before.

"How far down are we? Why's it so cold? Where are all the bodies? What are you saying?"

Gabriel broke off his spellweaving to chuckle at her. "Slow down, kiddo. One at a time. We're probably a good two hundred feet underground. That's why it's so cold. I'm hiding them and before you ask, no I won't show them to you. And I'm laying an Enochian spell to let us know when the Pagans come back."

Apparently satisfied, Mia asked no more questions and seemed to be content to follow the angel around. He was completely focused on his task until a prayer rang loudly into his head. A smile stretched across his face as he listened to Sam's simple but heartfelt message.

"_Love you, too, kiddo,"_ he sent back. A few minutes later, he was done. Before leaving, he grinned at Mia. "Wanna go explore?" he asked cheekily. He took Mia's eagerly-offered hand and the two took off. With nearly four hundred miles of passageways and caverns, and more than three hundred feet down to explore, the angel and human were not at a loss for places to go.

They found colonies of bats, watched the streams and pools for eyeless cave fish, and even floated down the River Styx in a boat Gabriel snapped into existence.

Two hours after they had left the Pagan's cavern, they returned to the hotel. Mia, smiling and exhausted, plopped onto the couch and allowed her head to rest on Sam's leg in lieu of a pillow. Gabriel stood behind the couch and leaned over the back of it to give Sam a short kiss. When Sam made a noise of protest as Gabriel pulled away, the angel smirked and leaned back in to kiss his hunter more thoroughly.

Mindful of Mia and their brothers, they kept the kiss casually intimate. Gabriel's hand came up to tangle gently in Sam's hair even as Sam's tongue lightly brushed the angel's bottom lip. Dean's cough broke them apart. Sam grinned at Gabriel's scowl as the angel glared at the other hunter.

"What? I don't want to see you two making out. It's gross." When Cas glared at Dean, he hurried to clarify. "Because it's my brother!"

Gabriel and Sam snickered at Dean's backtracking. Mia murmured in her sleep and curled into the fetal position. Gabe snapped and a blanket dropped onto the teen's form. The angel himself sat on the other end of the couch and willed a sucker into his hand.

"Okay, guys, we have a plan on what to do once we find Freyr, but we still have to actually find him."

"Well, I thought we were going with doing a simultaneous summon. It may not work, but even if it doesn't, I'll be able to see him. When are we gonna do this?" Gabriel asked, ready to be done with this hunt.

"I guess...now?" Sam said questioningly. Dean sighed and stood, Cas right behind him. Gabriel stood and picked Mia up to take her to her room. Sam followed and they tucked the sleeping girl into her bed and each took a moment to silently say goodbye. Sam felt a lump in his throat at the thought of not making it back to take her home.

Gabriel appeared at his side and laid a hand on the hunter's shoulder. "I'll ward the suite so nothing can get in. She'll be safe, Sammy."

"What if we don't make it back, Gabriel? If Freyr is anywhere near as powerful as Kali and the rest of the Pagans, Dean and I don't have a chance. And then if you or Cas gets trapped with him... I've never had to worry about not coming back from a hunt like this. It's always been just me and Dean, and I knew he could take care of himself if I died. Mia's _thirteen_, Gabe. She'll go back in the system, ignored because she's too old to adopt, and grow up miserable."

"Sam, stop. We're going to make it back. We're going to take Mia home, she's going to be a brat and say she hates us, and we're going to embarrass the hell out of her when her friends come over. You know how I know that?" Gabriel asked softly as he pulled Sam's head down to look him in the eye.

"How?" Sam croaked as his hands clutched at Gabriel's sides.

"I have _faith_," the angel whispered. "In you and me and those chuckleheads we call brothers. We're gonna get through this, Sam. We have to. I haven't had a chance to ravish you yet."

Sam let out a choked, watery laugh. "I love you," he whispered as he leaned down. Gabriel met him halfway and the two shared a bittersweet kiss.

Cas knocked lightly on the doorframe. "We are prepared."

Sam sighed as he pulled away from his angel, casually wiping at his eyes to remove any evidence of dreaded chick flick moments. "We're coming, Cas."

The seraph nodded and retreated. Gabriel snorted as he tangled his fingers with Sam's. "He's such a dork."

Sam raised a brow at him. "And you're not?"

"Samuel! Do I detect sarcasm?"

Sam's level stare cracked as Gabriel laughed. "Come on, Gabe. Let's get this over with."

The four men met up in the living room, loaded down with equipment to summon and trap a god. Before they left, Gabriel took a few moments to weave the tightest protection spell he could manage without draining himself. That done, he snapped and transported them to the cavern. Cas and Sam immediately began setting up the summoning spell while Dean and Gabriel checked the area to be sure they were alone.

Five minutes later, they stood around the spell altar, gathering fortitude to wage war against their enemy. The hunters looked to their respective angels and said a million words in a single look. Sam glanced at Dean and nodded, unwilling to put it off any longer.

As Sam began chanting, Dean began adding the ingredients in the order they had worked out earlier. The last ingredient, blood of a willing sacrifice, was given with barely a flinch as Dean cut a shallow line in his palm. The scars there from years of doing similar spells kept him from feeling much of the sting as blood dripped from his clenched hand and into the bowl below.

Meanwhile, Gabriel called out in a booming voice, "Freyr, ég kalla yður. Komið, heilsa gamlan vin."

The walls around them shook and rocks fell from the ceiling. Sam kept chanting, the words falling from his lips as he poured everything he had into this spell. Gabriel sent a pulse of Pagan magic outward, a beacon for Freyr to follow.

Suddenly, the shaking stopped. A voice echoed around the cavern, the Nordic accent heavy as it spoke. "Loki, my cousin! What brings you to this place?"

Gabriel forced a smile to his face. "Cuz, it's been a long time."

"Indeed it has! Tell me, why have you summoned me here?"

The angel found himself slipping into the persona he had used for thousands of years. An easy grin replaced the farcical one and he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Well, old man, it's not exactly a social call."

Freyr's eyes narrowed. He glanced around and finally noticed the other three men staring at him. "What have you done, Loki? Consorting with humans? And an angel as well? You have fallen far, my kin."

"Well, actually," Gabriel – no, the Trickster – said as he stepped toward his adopted cousin, "that's exactly what I was going to talk to you about."

Freyr looked at his cousin in confusion. "What are you on about, boy? I do not consort with humans."

Gabriel raised a sardonic brow. "Oh, really? Look around, pal. All of these people were murdered in _your_ name." As he spoke, the angel lifted his glamour and revealed the bodies he had hidden from Mia's sight earlier.

The Pagan god of virility looked around in confusion. "I do not understand. I do not ask for death. I ask for life. You know this, Loki!"

Loki snorted. "I know that things change. We change with the times to keep ourselves alive."

Freyr glared. "I haven't changed that much."

"Whatever, bro. How do you explain all the dead bodies here? And the fact that one of your little pets killed that kid over there last night _in your name_?" the shorter man asked, pointing across the chamber at Mark's body.

Confusion turned to anger on Freyr's face. "These mortals dare to defile my name with such acts?" With a low growl, he drew himself to his full height and disappeared in a bright flash.

Sam and Dean stared at each other in confusion, while Cas stepped to Gabriel's side and sent him a questioning look. The archangel shook his head and grinned at his brother.

"I guess that answers the question on if he's still mad at me," Gabriel quipped.

Sam snorted. "Yeah, _Loki_. Had me worried for a second there."

The sandy-haired angel raised a brow at Sam. "As much as I would love to go back to being just a Trickster, I like what I have now too much to do that."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Freaking _girls_, Cas. Both of them."

Before anyone could comment, Freyr reappeared with another flash of light. He was covered in blood and held the scruff of the man that Gabriel and Dean had witnessed the night before, murdering poor Mark.

With a hearty shake of the human, Freyr demanded of them, "Is this the one who you saw murder in my name?"

Gabriel glanced at the human. The man looked terrified. With no sympathy for him, the angel nodded his head and said cheerfully, "Yup. That's him."

"Why do you do this?" the Pagan roared with another shake of his fist. The human was shaken like a rag doll and whimpered.

"The park was dying! Trees were dying, the animals inside the caves were dying out. I had to do something to save it!" the man cried.

"But why start killing people?" Sam asked. "I mean, if you did your research then you would know that this guy doesn't really do the whole sacrifice thing."

"I cut my hand accidentally one night during the ritual to ask for a bountiful harvest. The blood hit the altar and the next thing you know, it was like spring in the middle of January. I started doing it on purpose and the blessings just kept getting bigger and bigger."

"Why did you murder these people?" Dean asked forcefully, irritated at the man's evasion of Sam's question.

The worshiper turned to the older hunter, a crazed look in his eyes. "They didn't believe me. I told them we needed more power, more blood! But they wouldn't listen. Bob tried to make them mutiny. I couldn't let that happen, though! We were finally starting to get visitors again! So I invited him down here to talk and slit his throat over an altar for you," he whispered, turning to look at the god he had been worshipping for over a year. "The others began to question me about his disappearance, so I had to get rid of them, too! But I made them useful in the end. Their deaths gave you power!"

Freyr looked at the man with disdain. "I am a deity of life, of vitality – virility! And yet you think to gain favor from me by taking away that life? You gain no favor here, only one last death. To repay me for besmirching my name, I will take your life as I have already taken the lives of the two remaining members of your circle. There will be no Valhalla for you, worm. You will go to Helheim and be at the mercy of Hel herself."

Gabriel smirked. "Tell her Daddy says hey."

With little more than a flick of his wrist, Freyr twisted the man's body so quickly that his head had little hope of following. Sam winced at the crack of his neck breaking, but couldn't dredge up much more caring. After Freyr had dropped the body onto the cave floor, Gabriel snapped and the bodies of all the deceased burst into flames that burned so hot, they were blue.

The taller Pagan turned back to face Gabriel. "I will leave this place now, Loki, and will return to the Ǽsir. I find myself suddenly weary of this planet."

"Look, you know I don't do this often, so listen up. I'm only saying this once. I'm sorry. Should have known better."

"Yes, you should have. But all is forgiven. Family is family, cousin."

Gabriel sighed. "I know."

Freyr laughed, the sound cutting off abruptly as he disappeared.

"Well," Dean said as he hefted his machete, "that was anticlimactic."

Sam chuckled, agreeing with Dean but not willing to complain about it. He ran a hand through his hair and breathed deeply as it sank in that they had come through this unscathed. It was a rare thing for a hunter, and even more so for a Winchester. "Hey, guys," he piped up, "can we get back to the room? We didn't actually let Mia know where we were going."

"Oh. Well, shit." Gabriel snapped and they were back in the living room. He and Sam stepped quietly to Mia's room and both let out a sigh of relief when they saw that the teen was still asleep. They shut the door and rejoined their brothers. Cas and Dean were still standing where they had appeared, but quickly went to their own room when it became apparent that their niece wasn't awake.


	11. Chapter 11

Sam blushed as Gabriel made his way to their bedroom and stood in the doorway, looking back at Sam with a hungry expression. It morphed into a smirk when he noticed Sam's blush. The hunter fought the feeling of butterflies in his stomach and calmly walked across the suite to join the angel. Gabriel fought the urge to throw the taller man down on the bed and have his way with him, but it was a close thing.

Instead, he simply changed their clothes into pajamas and settled himself in bed. He wasn't going to push Sam - if anything happened tonight, it would be by the hunter's initiation. And that didn't look likely if the stiff way the human was holding himself was any clue.

Sam had dropped into the bed beside Gabriel, but was acting more like a virginal bride than a grown man. Gabriel finally got tired of the distance between them and reached out to tug the hunter closer.

"I just want to hold you," he reassured when Sam seemed hesitant to move over. With his head resting against Sam's chest and his arms curled tight around him, Gabriel could breathe again. He had been worried tonight – more so than he had let on. He didn't think his Dad could be so cruel as to take Sam and their family away from his wayward son just when everything had started to come together.

But now, with his arms around his Sammy, their sorta-kid asleep across the suite, and their brothers safe and probably screwing like bunnies in their room, the angel felt at peace. It was something that hadn't happened to him in quite some time. He smiled when he realized that Sam had relaxed, as well.

The hunter felt trepidation at the thought of consummating their relationship, as new as it was. He wasn't sure if he was ready to give up the control to Gabriel, to allow him to do things that Sam had never let himself imagine before the Pagan's accidental spell.

And yet, the thought of the spell and what he had felt during it sent a bolt of lust through him. It reminded him that he _did_ want the archangel, so much that it scared him – scared him more than the thought of handing over the reins to the man. He had been hurt so many times. What if this was just a game to Gabriel? Maybe, as soon as he got what he wanted from Sam, he would be gone.

Gabriel felt Sam tense up again and pulled away to look at his face. The grimace there had him scooting up in the bed to press a kiss to Sam's lips. "Sammy, stop doing this to yourself. I. _Love_. You. You're it for me, and you're just going to have to accept that."

The hunter immediately responded to the kiss, his hand moving to cup the back of Gabriel's head. The angel's hands tangled in Sam's shirt, pulling him closer so that their bodies were pressed tightly together.

Sam moaned as he felt the proof of how much Gabriel wanted him pressing against his belly. His hips moved of their own accord, jerking against Gabriel in aborted thrusts as the angel slipped his tongue into Sam's mouth. The slick slide of Gabriel's tongue against his own had Sam moaning loudly as his hand tightened in the other man's hair.

The sudden bite of almost-pain had Gabriel groaning into the kiss as he began his own subtle hip movements against Sam. When the friction wasn't enough, he growled low in his throat and threw his weight at Sam, sending them tumbling to the side so that Gabriel was straddling the hunter. They let out simultaneous moans when the new position put their hips in delicious contact.

Said contact nearly sent Gabriel flying across the bed as Sam's hips jerked harshly, but Sam quickly grabbed the angel's hips and brought him down into a hard grind that threw every thought but one from both of their minds.

Almost as one, they began fumbling with buttons and zippers and belts until Gabriel finally remembered that he could do this much quicker. A snap later and Sam's heart nearly stopped at the rush of sensation on his suddenly-naked body. Gabriel shuddered as he rocked back and forth in Sam's lap to grind their erections together. "Fuck. I hate to say this, Sammy, but I don't think I'm gonna last long this time."

Sam tried to slow his breathing enough to answer back, "That's what round two is for, right?"

Gabriel groaned and leaned forward to rest his head on Sam's chest. "You're gonna kill me, kiddo."

"_La petite mort_," Sam said cheekily as his hands coaxed Gabriel's hips into those small rocking motions again.

"What a way to go, right?" Gabriel retorted as he sat up to help. A bottle of lube appeared on the bed beside Sam, which the hunter made quick use of to grasp both of their aching cocks in his big hand and begin stroking them torturously slow. With a frustrated groan, Gabriel attempted to thrust his hips into Sam's fist for more friction, more speed, _anything_.

Sam grabbed Gabriel's hand and brought it up to his mouth, nipping at the fingertips before slowly sucking Gabriel's middle finger into his mouth. His eyes were locked onto Gabriel's as he began to flutter his tongue around the digit, swirling it around the tip as he moved his head back and forth in a parody of something Gabriel suddenly wanted very much.

The angel couldn't take his eyes off of Sam's mouth, barely even noticing when the tempo of Sam's hand stroking them sped up, inching them closer to the precipice. He nudged Sam's lips with his index finger, shuddering when Sam immediately opened to let it in as well.

Sam's free hand moved to Gabriel's shoulder blades, scratching lightly at the skin there. A moan escaped Gabriel's lips as he felt his stomach muscles tighten. He shifted slightly to the side to maneuver Sam's questing fingers to the spot that would send any angel into spasms of pleasure. As soon as the humans' fingers softly scratched at the place where his multidimensional wings met his human(ish) vessel, Gabriel's vision went dark as he came harder than he could remember happening in a long time.

As the angel's body tensed and his dick began to pulse, Sam groaned and tugged harder and faster at their trapped lengths, wanting to come with his angel. The first hint of pressure to the spot on Gabriel's back had the other man throwing back his head as he choked out a cry and began to come. Sam wasn't far behind, the look of rapture on the angel's face pushing him over the edge.

When Gabriel finally came back to himself, he was collapsed on top of Sam, their stomachs coated with semen, as they both panted for breath. "Gimme... a minute. Then I'll... show you how good... of a bottom you are."

Sam felt a bolt of fear, but the lust rolling over him far outweighed it. He knew Gabriel loved him, would take care of him. It didn't make the thought of being fucked by the creature above him any less intimidating, but it did remind him that he trusted said creature.

Eventually, they both caught their breath. Gabriel sat up to look at Sam, frowning at the feeling of his sticky abdomen. A quick thought banished the results of their first round. The angel grinned at Sam as he slipped down his body and began to mouth at the hunter's flaccid cock. It didn't stay soft for long with Gabriel's insistent tongue licking up and down the shaft and darting across the slit before the whole length was engulfed in the warm wetness of Gabriel's mouth.

With a moan, Sam tried to quell the urge to thrust into that hot mouth. The strong hands holding his hips to the mattress certainly helped with that. Instead, Sam's hands found purchase in Gabriel's hair, tugging lightly every time the angel made him moan. When Gabriel slid one arm across Sam's hips to hold him down and free up a hand, Sam didn't think anything of it.

At least, not until he felt a finger press against the spot just behind his balls. A choked cry left his throat as he pushed back against the questing finger. Tease that he was, Gabriel moved his hand away and went back to driving Sam crazy with his mouth.

When Sam began to whimper, Gabriel finally brought those clever fingers back into play. A bit of Grace – and wouldn't Dad keel over to know that _this_ was what it was being used for – ensured that Sam was clean, inside and out, before a single digit passed over the puckered skin that protected the entrance that Gabriel was dying to get inside of.

With his brain focused on the mouth still bobbing up and down on his dick, Sam barely registered the finger teasing at his entrance until it was already deep inside. An odd sound, some mix between a gasp and a moan, escaped Sam as his body tried to decide if it wanted to move toward the finger or away. Gabriel took the choice from him as he began to move the finger in and out of Sam, allowing the hunter to get used to the feeling.

Gabriel pulled away from Sam's dick long enough to ask, "Can I rim you?" The silence following the question seemed like an answer in itself, so Gabriel shrugged and went back to his previous ministrations.

Sam's brain finally caught up with Gabriel's words and he groaned. "Fuck, Gabriel. _Yes_, please."

The angel grinned as he let go of Sam's throbbing dick with an audible _pop! _and trailed his tongue down the shaft and across his balls to the place where his finger was still moving lazily in and out. With little preamble, Gabriel pushed his tongue inside to join the digit still working into Sam. The hunter cried out as his body clenched down on the invading appendages, causing Gabriel to moan as his dick twitched with interest at the tightness of Sam's body.

With the thought of actually getting inside, Gabriel set to work opening Sam up as wetly and thoroughly as he could. One finger turned to two, two turned to three. The angel removed his fingers and thrust his tongue completely inside Sam, going to town and driving the hunter mad with it. He scraped his teeth across Sam's skin, delighting when the hunter cried out and pushed back against him.

When Sam was on the verge of coming again, Gabriel finally backed off. Sam groaned and tossed his head back forth on the pillow beneath him as he reached for Gabriel, pulling the angel closer and grasping at his hips to coax him up the bed. When the angel realized what Sam was wordlessly hinting at, he quickly moved the rest of the way up the bed and stared down at his lover as Sam eagerly opened his mouth and licked across the head of Gabriel's dick.

Gabriel moved forward a bit more to make things more comfortable for Sam, groaning when the new position allowed Sam to take him fully into his mouth. The human was inexperienced but eager, and Gabriel loved every second. When Sam's arms came up around Gabriel's hips to pull him even closer, when Gabriel's dick started to slide down Sam's throat with the hunter swallowing around the thick length, the angel cried out at how fast his orgasm snuck up on him. Not wanting to come yet, he abruptly disappeared from his spot above Sam and reappeared on the foot of the bed.

"Thought you'd never done anything like this, kiddo," he said as he tried to stave off his release.

Sam looked embarrassed. "I haven't, but I know how amazing that feels."

"I've been with professionals who couldn't deepthroat like you can. Fuck me, kiddo, we're doing that again later." When Gabriel felt like he could control himself once more, he moved to kneel between Sam's knees. "Ready, Sam?"

Nodding, Sam tried to push down the apprehension spiking through him. The fact that Gabriel took the time to ensure that he was still stretched and ready helped. The bottle of lube was summoned to the angel and quickly used to coat the shorter man's erection before the daunting length was suddenly nudging at Sam's entrance. Gabriel was hovering over the hunter, bracing himself with one hand while the other held his dick steady.

"Deep breath, kiddo. Just relax," Gabriel said softly as he began to push inside. He groaned at how tight Sam was, even after all the time spent opening him up. Slow, shallow thrusts threatened to kill them both, but Gabriel was determined not to hurt his hunter. Sweat began to form on his brow, a testament to how much this was wrecking him. With half of his length inside Sam, the angel brought his other hand up to help brace himself above the hunter. Sam clutched at his shoulders, whimpering with every movement.

When Gabriel assumed he was in pain and slowed down accordingly, Sam shook his head and did his best to push his hips into Gabriel's. "Oh fuck, Gabe. More, please!"

His breath catching at the lust that washed over him, Gabriel took the challenge and quickly pushed the rest of the way into Sam's body. The hunter cried out and thrashed his head, biting lightly at the only part of Gabriel he could reach. While his forearm wasn't as sexy as, say, his neck, Gabriel still swore as the bite sent shocks of pleasure straight to his dick.

Without pause, the angel began to piston in and out of Sam, relishing the breathless moans and cries that each thrust pulled from Sam. The hunter pulled Gabriel down to kiss him, grunting when the fast pace of Gabriel's hips kept them from kissing properly. Brilliance struck him. With a grunt of exertion, he shoved at Gabriel, pushing him to the side and following him over so that he was suddenly straddling the angel and moaning loudly as the new position had Gabriel rubbing against his prostate.

For a few moments, Sam could do nothing but _writhe_ in Gabriel's lap, brain function utterly gone from the acute pleasure feedback he was getting. When he finally rediscovered his brain cells, he leaned down and pressed his lips to Gabriel's in a hungry kiss. "I – fucking – love – you," he said in the moments between their lips meeting.

Gabriel's hands found his hips and began rocking him back and forth, driving them both further toward release as Sam felt his prostate being nudged near-constantly and his muscles tightened almost painfully around Gabriel. The angel's eyes were glowing, a golden light that pushed Sam even closer to the edge as he realized that he was seeing a small piece of _Gabriel_. Not his vessel, but the celestial being that was – literally – as old as time itself.

As for the celestial being, he was having a really hard time containing his Grace. This hadn't happened in centuries, and Gabriel was shocked at how much harder it was to do now than it had been back then. "Shit. Sammy, I'm gonna – ah, fuck – angel out when I come. Gotta close... gotta close your eyes."

Sam moaned at the realization of how fragile Gabriel's control was, thanks to him. Demon-boy, the abomination, Azazel's pet project, was bringing down the iron walls of an archangel's control. He ground down harder into Gabriel's lap, tightening harshly when the angel was entirely inside him. "Want you... to mark me. Want everyone to know that I'm yours."

Gabriel's hands tightened on Sam's hips to the point of pain, the angel groaning when Sam's plea registered. "You gotta be sure, Sam. Can't be taken back. Ever. You'll be stuck with me forever."

Sam grinned, his pupils blown and his expression just shy of blissed out. "I like the sound of that." The next second, Sam was on his back, knees almost touching his ears as Gabriel took back control and began to fuck into Sam in earnest.

"Where do you want it, kiddo? Here?" he asked with his hand on Sam's chest. When the hunter shook his head no, he moved his hand to Sam's bicep. "Here?" At another negative, he trailed his hand down Sam's side to his right hip. "What about here?" Sam moaned and nodded his head, too far gone to speak.

Gabriel pulled back long enough to coax Sam's right leg down, giving him access to the spot he wanted to mark, before he was back to driving into Sam's body hard enough to move the bed. The hunter cried out and threw his arms around Gabriel's shoulders, holding tightly as he felt the first waves of his release coming over him.

Gabriel's hand latched onto Sam's hip and he barked out, "Close your eyes!" as his Grace began to spill out of his vessel. He guided as much of it as he could into his hand, feeling it burn into Sam's skin and even down to the bone as his hips jerked uncontrollably into Sam. He moaned as he began to come, filling Sam up with his seed even as the room glowed brightly with the Grace escaping his body.

Sam screamed as he felt Gabriel's essence invade his body in more than one way. His muscles clamped down on Gabriel's length, milking every bit of cum from him and causing the angel to shudder at the sudden tightness on his now-sensitive cock. The Grace burning into Sam's hip dissipated after a few moments, though the pain didn't. Sam felt it was a small price to pay for the sense of love and warmth that washed over him, through him, coming from the handprint on his hip.

As he slowly reined in his wayward Grace, Gabriel let himself fall forward onto Sam. The hunter whined in loss when the angel's softening penis began to slip from his body. Gabriel smiled and pushed himself back in. For someone who had created their vessel from scratch, it was nothing to manipulate his penis back to a half-hard state. "I love you, too, by the way," he said softly.

Sam made a questioning noise, too worn out to speak.

"You said it earlier," Gabriel explained. "I was a little distracted by your ass to answer." When Sam simply grunted, the angel smiled softly. "Go to sleep, Sammich. You earned it," he sassed as he kissed Sam tenderly on the lips. Sam's arms wrapped around Gabriel tightly. The hunter was asleep moments later.

Gabriel was quick to follow.


	12. Chapter 12

Sam woke abruptly an hour later. He shook Gabriel awake and said incredulously, "Tell her daddy says hey?!"

Gabriel grinned. "Well, yeah. I thought you knew about Loki's kids."

Sam paled. "I thought it was...just a myth. Oh, god. Am I going to get pregnant? Is that even possible?"

The angel laughed at Sam's expression. "Slow down, there, tiger! Last I checked, you were a guy, so no, you won't be getting pregnant. Unless you wanted to, then I could turn you into a woman for a few months." At Sam's look of horror, he laughed again. "Resounding no, got it."

Sam blushed and mumbled, "Not _resounding_, just...let me think about it."

Gabriel gaped at his lover. "Really?"

"I do want kids, Gabriel. I just figured we'd have more like Mia."

"Sammy, there's no reason we can't. I won't ask you to do anything that you're not comfortable with," Gabriel said softly.

"I know that, Gabe." Sam yawned widely before continuing. "That's why I'll actually think about it. But not right now."

"Not right now," Gabriel echoed, slightly off-kilter at how serious Sam was taking this. He shook his head and pushed Sam back down to the bed and pulled the covers up over them. With a helpful push of Grace through his mark on Sam, Gabriel sent the hunter back to sleep. His own slide into the land of dreams took a bit longer, too preoccupied with replaying the last five minutes over and over in his head. Eventually, he pushed all of that from his head and drifted off.

**###########**

The next morning, Gabriel woke first. He rolled over to face Sam and couldn't resist planting a soft kiss on his lips. The soft kiss turned into quite a few soft kisses, and before Gabriel knew it, Sam's hand was sliding into the hair at the back of his head and pulling him closer to take the kiss from soft to hungry.

Before things could get out of hand, they were interrupted by Sam's gurgling belly. They laughed as their foreheads rested against each other, not really willing to lose that small physical contact just yet. The beast roared again and they ceded defeat. Sam pulled on a pair of sleep pants, hissing when the fabric brushed the still-sensitive handprint on his hip.

Gabriel's mouth watered at the sight of Sam bearing his mark. The angel crossed the room and knelt down in front of the hunter before tugging the pants down enough to trace the mark with his tongue. Sam cried out and almost fell as he was wracked with pleasure. "G-gabe, stop. Fuck!"

Gabriel grinned up at him, unrepentant, before tugging the fabric back up and pressing a last kiss to the visible portion of the mark. "Let's go get some food, Sammy."

Sam glared at the angel before willing his half-hard dick to settle down. It took a few minutes, but he was finally decent enough to be around people. As he walked into the kitchen area, he saw Dean's gaze zero in on the mark immediately. He raised a brow at the incredulous look his brother sent him and carried on with fixing a plate from the spread that was laid out on the counter.

"Whatever," Dean sighed as he crunched a piece of bacon. When Gabriel sauntered into view, he pointed the partially-eaten pork product at the angel. "Don't hurt my brother. If you do, I _will_ find a way to kill you."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Right back atcha, Dean-o."

Mia looked up from her plate and stared sadly at Sam and Gabriel, standing together now beside the counter of food. When Sam turned and saw her expression, he frowned.

"What's wrong, Mia?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said quickly as she turned her gaze back to her food.

"Hey, you can tell me. What is it?"

Tears filled the teen's eyes as she asked quietly, "Are you going to send me back?"

"Back? What do you mean?"

"Now that you guys are all happy and together, you won't want me around anymore."

Gabriel scoffed as he wrapped an arm around Mia. "As if. Baby girl, you're part of why we're so happy. You're family now, brat. No going back."

Mia turned to look at the angel. "Promise?"

"I promise. You're ours, Mia. We already love you to bits and we're not giving you up. Unless...unless you want to go?"

"No!" Mia denied. "You guys are weird and dorky and... and the best family I've ever had. I don't want to leave."

Sam crouched down to hug Mia as well. "Okay. Well, now that that's settled, finish your breakfast, young lady," he said in a mockingly stern voice.

Mia giggled as she used her sleeve to brush away the wetness in her eyes.

Dean and Cas watched the three interact and surreptitiously laced their fingers together. Family was a wonderful thing. Maybe, one day, they'd look into making one of their own.

For now, though, they were content with what they had.

As for Sam and Gabriel, they were both sending up their thanks to Chuck or God or whichever. A second chance at things had changed their lives and they never wanted to go back.

* * *

I realize this chapter is pretty well just a freaking tease, but I wanted to have the pr0n by itself. Haha. As I've said on the original post on AO3, I'm thinking of doing timestamps for this 'verse. If there's anything you would care to see in those timestamps, leave it in a comment and I will do my best to add it in. :)


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